


The Power of Love

by Mythica



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Minor Spoilers, Season/Series 4.5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-15
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-15 03:03:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8039944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mythica/pseuds/Mythica
Summary: Oliver's election to mayor of Star City has some expected outcomes when someone from his past pays him a visit.  Brothers help brothers, as they say, but in this case, will the mayor do as his "brother" asks or will conflict arise that puts those Oliver loves at risk?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! Just a little story based on some of the spoilers for the upcoming season. Plus, I've always wanted to have an aspect of the comics show up on the show. This isn't what happened in the comics, but a version of it that would fit the show. I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> BTW, I'm not thrilled with my title, but I couldn't come up with anything else. *shrugs*

Oliver read over the paper on his desk for what felt like the millionth time. It was hard for him to focus, but he knew he had to. He had been spending too much time away from the mayor’s office. He had to put some time in or else people would start to wonder who they really elected.

There had been quite the ruckus when he had appointed Thea his chief of staff. After the issues with his campaign manager, he knew he had to have someone he trusted in that position. Thea was the first person he had thought of and it if it wasn’t for her, he would have probably been kicked out of office by now. Oliver knew he had to put more effort into being mayor, but he was almost overwhelmed by the amount of time spent at his other job. He had thought that after all of the events of the spring, Star City would be a better place to live, but it seemed like things were just getting worse. Organized crime had made a come back and the streets seemed less safe than ever. With it only being him out there, it was hard to keep up. Oh how he missed his team.

Bringing his hand up to his eyes, Oliver squeezed them tightly, trying to make them focus better. Reaching over, he picked up his coffee mug and took a sip, only to cringe at the lack of warmth coming from the beverage. Getting up from his desk, he walked over to the door and opened it, heading out to where fresh coffee was being brewed. When he saw his administrative assistant, he smiled and held up his mug as he headed to the coffee pot.

“I could have gotten that for you, Mr. Mayor,” she said happily.

Oliver smiled as he picked up the pot of coffee. “I guess I’m just used to getting my own,” he replied, thinking back to when he was CEO of Queen Consolidated. Once he put the pot back down again, he turned and leaned against the counter before taking a sip of the warm drink.

“You have better things to do than get your own coffee,” she told him, giving him a warm smile.

“I needed a break,” he admitted, relaxing a little into the counter. “There’s only so long you can read zoning proposals.”

“You’ve stuck at it longer than I expected,” she admitted, gaining a curious look from Oliver. “The previous mayors would only last a hour or so,” she clarified. “You’ve been at it for two.”

Oliver laughed lightly as he took another sip of his coffee. Marie O’Connell had been in the mayor’s office going on 10 years and she had seen it all. When he learned he had to pick an administrative assistant, he knew he wanted someone who knew the ropes. He had relied a lot on Felicity during his time as CEO and he knew the benefits of having someone knowledgable in that position.

“I’m just making up for not being here more before,” he told her as he pushed off the counter and headed back to the office.

“Oh, it hasn’t been that bad,” Marie told him. “At least you have someone watching your back. Ms. Queen has been a great addition to your team.”

Oliver just nodded as he headed back into his office. Even though Thea wasn’t part of his other team, it was nice having her as part of his mayoral team. Making her his chief of staff was the smartest thing he had ever done. He didn’t think he could do any of this without her.

“Speaking of Thea,” Oliver began as he stopped at the threshold, “have you seen her today?”

“Mmm hmm,” Marie confirmed. “She was here this morning. She left to go to lunch while you were busy.”

“And she didn’t come in?” Oliver asked confused. “It’s not like her to avoid the chance to tease me about being here.”

“I told her you were working on the zoning proposals,” she explained as she crossed her hands on her desk. “I know she wasn’t looking forward to going through those herself so I think she didn’t want to risk it.”

Oliver laughed lightly as he took a sip of his coffee. He could understand her reluctance to go over those proposals. Coffee was the only thing keeping him awake. He was just about to turn and head back into his office when the sound of someone walking in through the outer office door caught his attention. When he looked up, his good mood slipped away as his grip on his mug tightened. Standing in the threshold were three men he had hoped he would never have to see again.

“Good morning, Mr. Mayor,” one of the men said in a thick Russian accent. “I was hoping you could spare a little time for an old friend.”

Before Oliver could respond, Marie stood up and looked at the men with contempt. She could tell by the look on Oliver’s face that the men in question were not old friends. “I’m sorry, the mayor is very busy. Do you have an appointment?”

The men ignored her and continued to stare down Oliver. He knew what this was about and he wasn’t about to let Marie get in the middle of it.

“It’s ok, Marie,” Oliver told her, holding his hand up to her. When she looked at him for acknowledgement, he just nodded, causing her to retake her seat. Moving to stand between Marie and the men, Oliver gestured to his office’s open door as an indication for them to enter. Once he saw the three of them go into the office, Oliver turned to Marie and leaned on her desk, speaking softly.

“Why don’t you take the afternoon off?” Oliver suggested, needing to get her out of any possible harm’s way.

“But I still have to…”

“Marie,” he interrupted, placing his hand on her arm. “Please…”

Marie could tell that he was desperate to get her out of the office. His expression wasn’t one of trying to hide something from her, but rather trying to make sure she was safe. Reaching into her desk, she pulled out her purse and pulled it over her shoulder.

“Do you want me to call anyone?” she asked quietly, taking a glance into his office.

Oliver just smiled at her concern for his well being. If she only knew.

“I’ll be fine,” he reassured her, squeezing her arm gently. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Glancing one more time into the office, Marie stepped out from behind her desk and headed out. Before she left, she turned back to Oliver who just gave her a reassuring smile. After making sure she had gotten out safely, Oliver closed the outer door and locked it before heading back to his office. As he walked in, he stopped when he saw the man who had spoken before sitting in his chair behind his desk, reading over the papers that he had just been going over.

“What are you doing here, Nikolai?” he asked, taking note of where the other two men were stationed in the office.

Nikolai smiled as he played with a pen from Oliver’s desk. “I thought it was time for me to offer my congratulations to the new mayor of Star City. It’s not every day that someone from the brotherhood gets into such a position.”

“Somehow I doubt you’re just here to congratulate me,” Oliver countered, keeping his back to the door and his peripheral vision on the other men.

Nikolai dropped the pen on the desk and slowly got up, causing Oliver guard to go up. “Now that you’ve had some time to… settle in to your new position, I felt it was time to talk.”

“About what?” Oliver asked as Nikolai approached.

“About our positions being mutually beneficial to each other,” he explained as he pulled his jacket together and buttoned it. “You see, I want to expand my business in Star City, bring in more… lucrative endeavors. In order to do that, I’m going to need some… assistance from local government. And in exchange, I’ll make sure you’re sufficiently compensated.”

“I don’t want your money, Nikolai,” Oliver told him, his gaze never wavering from the Russian. “I’m trying to clean up Star City, not drag is back down again.”

“And I applaud your efforts,” Nikolai reassured him, putting his hands up in defense. “The Italians. The Chinese. They should be taken care of. I would even be happy to assist you in your efforts. That should be sufficient compensation, do you not think so?”

Oliver smirked as he crossed his arms in front of him. “As long as I look the other way when it comes to you and your businesses.”

“Having the police patrolling the docks seems like such a waste of their time,” Nikolai explained, “especially when there is frequently nothing for them to do. Perhaps their time would be better spent somewhere else.”

“Like going after the Italians or the Chinese,” Oliver offered. “You know, they’re down on the docks as well. You wouldn’t want them… expanding their businesses, now would you?”

“As I said before,” Nikolai said with a smile. “We will take care of the Italians and the Chinese. Just leave security of the docks to us, yes?”

Oliver just laughed lightly as he walked up to stand right in front of Nikolai, ignoring the two men slowing approaching him.

“What I think,” Oliver told him, standing toe-to-toe with the other man, “is that this city is my city. I am responsible for protecting it and making sure its people are safe. I will decide where and when the police are needed. Not you or anyone else. Is that clear?”

The smile on Nikolai’s face faded as Oliver gave him his decision. “Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider that position?” he asked, holding his hand up to tell his men to stay back. “You know what happens when politicians get in the way of Bratva dealings.”

“You don’t want to know what happens when someone threatens my family,” Oliver countered. “I think maybe you should just leave now before this gets ugly.”

Nikolai looked at him for a few seconds before giving a short nod and walking around Oliver towards the office door. As he reached for the door handle, he turned back to Oliver and let out a sigh. “I hope for your sake you don’t regret your decision today, brother.”

Oliver turned just as Nikolai exited the office, followed by his two bodyguards. Leaning against his desk, Oliver let out a sigh and rubbed his hands over his face. Nikolai was right. He knew what the consequences of his actions were, but he was not about to let the Bratva or the Italians or the Chinese bring down his city. He was mayor and it was time he started acting like it.

>>>————>

“Sometimes I wonder why he even wanted to be mayor,” Thea was saying as she stabbed at her salad. “He’s barely even at the office. I can’t tell you how shocked I was to hear he was going over those damn zoning proposals.”

“Well, you do know he’s busy doing… other things,” Felicity replied, taking a bite of her pasta. 

“But that should only be at night, right?” Thea asked as she dropped her fork onto her plate. “I mean, he can still be at City Hall during the day. It’s not like he sleeps.”

Felicity laughed lightly as she pushed around the remnants of her pasta. She really enjoyed these lunches with Thea. Ever since Thea had left Team Arrow, she hadn’t gotten to see much of the younger Queen. Once Thea had started working with Oliver at the mayor’s office, they had decided that they would make more of an effort to keep in touch by more than just the occasional text message. Lunch on Wednesdays at the restaurant across from City Hall had become their thing and Felicity found she really enjoyed their time together.

“He does sleep,” Felicity corrected. “He’s going to burn out if he doesn’t. He’s trying to keep the city safe at night and make it better during the day. I know it seems like he’s just focused on his nighttime activities, but things haven’t really gotten safer. Every time we have a catastrophe we have a spike in crime. He’s just trying to get it to calm down again. I’m sure once things have settled down, he’ll be at City Hall more often. It’s not easy doing what he does at night by himself.”

Thea smiled as she folded her hands in front of her. “But he’s not by himself,” she reminded her. “He has you.”

“It’s not the same as having someone else out in the field with him,” Felicity explained. “He’s really exhausted.”

Thea’s smile faded as she looked at Felicity’s concerned face. “You’re concerned about him, aren’t you?”

“He’s just pushing himself so hard,” Felicity said softly as she stared down at her plate. “I haven’t seen him like this in years. He had always had someone else out there with him. Now it just that he’s taking on all of this responsibility and it just seems like it’s starting to take its toll.”

Reaching over to touch her arm, Thea got Felicity’s attention as she looked up. “Do you want me to talk to him? Maybe I can… stop by. Maybe go out on patrol with him or something.”

“No,” Felicity said with a smile as she placed her hand over Thea’s. “You walked away for a reason. Don’t let him be the reason you come back. The last thing he needs is something else to blame himself for.”

“He does do that a lot, doesn’t he?” Thea remarked.

“All the time,” Felicity agreed. “Even when it isn’t his fault. He always manages to find something to put the blame on him. I wish he’d just understand that some things just happen. There’s not always someone to blame.”

“Well, maybe you should think about taking some of your own advice,” Thea suggested, causing Felicity to pull her hand back and look down at her plate. “I know you still blame yourself for what happened at Havenrock. I wish you could see that no one blames you for that.”

“No, I do,” Felicity corrected, looking up at Thea. “I blame myself because it was my fault. I sent that missile there. I’m responsible. Do you know how many kids died that day? I do. 2735. That’s 2735 kids that won’t grow up all because of a decision that I made.”

“A decision that you wouldn’t have had to make had Damien Darhk not launched the missile in the first place,” Thea reminded her, trying to keep her voice down. “It’s not your fault, Felicity. He launched the missile. He killed those people.”

“He launched it at Monument Point.”

“And because of you, millions of people are still alive. How many kids live in Monument Point? Tens of thousands? Think of all of those kids when you doubt that you made the right decision.”

Felicity looked back down at her plate and pushed more of the food around with her fork. “I’m trying,” she said softly.

“Are you still volunteering at the youth center?” Thea asked.

Felicity nodded as she put her fork back down on her plate. She didn’t have much of an appetite any more. “It helps,” she explained, as she dropped her napkin on the plate. “I know it would be better to talk to a professional about it…”

“… but you can’t,” Thea completed, nodding in understanding. “You could try talking to someone else,” Thea suggested softly, trying to get Felicity to look up. “Maybe someone who understands what you’re going through?”

Felicity just shook her head as she let out a sigh. “I need to work this out on my own. Oliver has enough on his plate already. He doesn’t need the extra burden of having to listen to me.”

Thea laughed lightly causing Felicity to look up. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t consider you a burden or mind listening to you. You should talk to him.”

The sound of Thea’s phone going off got both of their attentions as she quickly pulled it out of her purse. Felicity could see by the look on her face that it was time for their lunch to be over. 

“Duty calls?” Felicity asked, well familiar with how busy Thea’s life was.

“I’m sorry,” Thea replied as she started to gather up her things. “There’s a Conservation Board meeting in 15 minutes that I need to go to. Of course, I wouldn’t have to go if my brother actually showed up for his job.”

“Didn’t you say he was there today?” Felicity asked as she watched Thea get up.

“Yes, but he hasn’t been to any of the other meetings,” she told her as she let out a sigh. “He’d be completely lost without me.”

“Of that, I am sure,” Felicity said as she gave her friend a smile.

“I’ll call you later.” With that, Thea turned and walked out, leaving Felicity alone again. Her mind was busy going through the pros and cons of talking to Oliver about Havenrock. Thea was right. He would understand and it would probably help a lot to talk to him, but she just couldn’t do it. Even though they had gotten back to a comfortable friendship, she didn’t feel like it would be appropriate for her to talk to him about something so personal. She could easily get lost in her emotions and that was something she couldn’t afford to do around Oliver. She already had a hard enough time just helping him in the bunker. No, she could handle it on her own in her own way. Pulling out her phone to check the time, she grimaced at how early it was. Her lunch was suppose to take more time. Gathering up her things, she got up and made her way to her car. It was still a bit early, but she had a lot to do at the youth center. The extra time would be helpful.

It didn’t take her long to make her way back to the Glades. After parking her car behind the building, she made her way to the door carrying a box of electronics with her. As she pulled on the door handle, she swore under her breath when she realized it was locked. She knew she was early, but she didn’t think she was that early.

“Damn…” she sighed, adjusting the box in her arms. She was just about to turn and go back to her car when she heard quick footsteps approaching her. Turning, a smile came over her face as she saw a man in jeans and a t-shirt jogging towards her with his keys in his hand.

“Hang on,” he said as he made his way to the door. Pushing the key into the lock, he quickly unlocked it before turning and taking the box from Felicity with a smile. “You’re here early.”

“Lunch finished early,” she replied as she pulled the door open. She tried to hold it open for him, but he just adjusted the box in one arm and reached over her to grab the door, allowing her to walk in before him.

“Emergency at City Hall?” he inquired as he looked at the contents of the box.

“No, just a meeting,” she replied as they walked towards one of the rooms. Inside were computers of all sizes and ages, lined up against the wall. This had become Felicity’s task for the summer: rebuilding old computers for kids in need. “Such is the life of the mayor’s chief of staff.” When she saw him looking around the room, she knew he was trying to find someplace to put the new equipment. Looking around herself, she found an empty corner that would do nicely. “Over there, please.”

Her companion walked over and set the box down before pulling out a circuit board and giving her a curious look. “Spare parts now?” he asked.

Felicity just shrugged as he put the part back and stood up, walking over to her. “I think it’s time I teach them how to actually build a computer. Using one is one thing. Being able to build your own? That’s empowerment!”

“Mmm hmm.” Felicity smiled as he walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close with a smile. She brought her hands up to his neck, wrapping them around him as he leaned down to press a soft kiss on her lips. “I’m glad you’re early.”

“Brian, I have a lot of work to do,” she explained as she ran her hand along the back of his head, running her fingers through his short blond hair. The hair on top was a bit longer, falling a little over his green eyes that were looking at her with mischief. “I want to get these parts organized before the kids start showing up.”

Brian sighed as he leaned his forehead down to hers. “Spoil sport.” Giving her a kiss on her nose that made her giggle, he pulled back slightly, sliding his hands down her arms until he could entwine their fingers together. “Are we still on for dinner?”

Felicity smiled as she began to swing their arms playfully. “Absolutely.”

“Ok, I’ll let you get to work” he sighed as he leaned in to give her one more quick kiss. “You know where to find me if you change your mind.”

Giving her hands a gentle squeeze, Brian pulled away and exited the room, leaving Felicity to watch as he left. She hadn’t meant for them to happen. All she wanted was to find someplace where she could make a difference in the light. Oliver had his job as mayor. Felicity wanted something for herself, especially after Havenrock. She had found the youth center by accident. She had been making her way to the bunker when she ran into some road work that caused her to take a detour. She saw some of the kids outside, playing basketball and it made her think about all of the kids who had died in Havenrock. Pulling her car over, she just sat there and watched, knowing that there would be no more basketball games for those children all because of what she had done.

She hadn’t realized how long she had sat there until a man from the center had come out and knocked on her window. He introduced himself as Brian Sinclair and had told her that he ran the center. He could see how upset she had been sitting out there and had simply offered her a cup of coffee. She didn’t know why she had done it. She was already late at getting to the bunker, but something in his green eyes made her agree. He was a kind man, concerned about her even though he didn’t even know her. He had offered her a simple cup of coffee and an ear to listen. She knew she couldn’t tell him what she had done, so she told him that she had lost someone in Havenrock and seeing the kids playing had brought those feeling back up to the surface.

It was Brian’s idea that she start working at the center. She knew that many of the kids at the center barely had enough to survive, let alone have access to technology, so she started bringing in some old computer equipment, setting up a computer lab for them to use whenever they needed to. She would help them as much as she could, doing everything from helping writing papers for school to helping someone fill out an online college application. When the kids weren’t there, she would spend her free time helping Brian with the finances, trying to scrape together every last penny. They had been spending so much time together that when he had asked her out to dinner, it felt natural to say yes. It wasn’t until she had gotten home that she realized what she had done. Was she ready to date again? Brian was such a wonderful man. Could she risk getting hurt again?

She was surprised when she realized it was Oliver who helped her decide to pursue something with Brian. Every time she saw him in the bunker, she thought of their time together. Even though she had been the one to break up with him, seeing him every night was a constant reminder of what they once were. She needed something… or someone… to get her mind off of him. She knew it was the wrong reason for going out with someone, but she had to do it, just to prove to herself that she could.

So had started her relationship with Brian . It wasn’t serious, by any stretch of the imagination. Brian knew about her broken engagement to Oliver and he knew it wasn’t that long ago. He understood that she had her own issues to deal with as well. He had gone into it with his eyes wide open, knowing that Felicity wasn’t ready for anything more than two people enjoying each other’s company. That’s why every time they went out, he would bring her home, give her a kiss, and leave. He knew once she was ready to take that next step, he would be there, but he wasn’t going to push. How could she not find that insanely attractive?

Leaning out of the door to the computer room, Felicity looked over to Brian’s office and smiled. He was sitting at this desk, most likely going over financials that would never be in the black. She let out a soft sigh as she leaned against the door frame. He was exactly what she needed and after their dinner tonight, she was going to show him.


	2. Chapter 2

“I didn’t expect you to still be here.” Oliver looked up from his desk and smiled as Thea leaned against his office doorframe. “This must be a record for the longest you’ve ever been in your office.”

“It’s about time I started doing more here,” Oliver replied, leaning back in his chair as Thea walked in.

“I say I’d have to agree with you,” Thea replied, taking a seat across from him. “What caused the change? Did you talk to Felicity?” Oliver frowned as he looked over at his sister. When she saw his confused face, she nodded. “Apparently not.”

“What does Felicity have to do with me spending more time in the office?” he asked.

“Oh, nothing,” Thea replied, leaning back in her chair. “It just came up at lunch today.”

“Really?” he asked, suddenly very interested.

“Mmm hmm,” Thea acknowledged as a knowing smile came across her face. “Don’t worry. We don’t usually spend our lunch time talking about you.”

Thea almost laughed when she saw his face fall slightly. He still had it so bad for Felicity. Even just the thought of her talking about him made him smile.

“So, why are you still here?” Thea asked again. “Don’t tell me you found your calling going over zoning proposals.”

Oliver laughed a little as he looked at the papers on his desk. “Hardly. No, I was going over the police budget, trying to find out if we have enough in it to hire a few more officers.”

Thea frowned as she sat up a little. “What’s the sudden concern about the police? Is this because of your other team being down a few people?”

Oliver sighed as he leaned back in his chair. “I had a visitor today,” he explained.

Thea looked at him with concern when she saw the expression on his face. “Why do I get the feeling this wasn’t a good visitor?”

“Nikolai Ivanovich,” Oliver explained. “He runs the Bratva cell in Star City.”

“Let me guess,” Thea interrupted, as she crossed her arms in front of her. “He wanted a favor from the new mayor.”

“You could say that,” Oliver agreed. “Of course I told him no, but that doesn’t mean he won’t try anyway.”

“What are we talking about here?” Thea asked. “Drugs? Weapons?”

Oliver just nodded. “That and probably more. The Bratva have been pretty quiet in Star City since I came back, but Ivanovich is new and he wants to move up in the ranks of the brotherhood. He’s not going to waste what he sees as the opportunity of a lifetime.”

“So, what do you need me to do?” Thea offered, making Oliver shake his head.

“The Bratva is my problem,” Oliver told her. “I don’t want you to get involved.”

Thea frowned as she leaned forward onto her knees. “This man has not only threatened my city, he’s threatened my brother. There’s no way I’m not going to be involved.”

Oliver couldn’t help but smile as he looked over at his younger sister. He wouldn’t bring her back into the darkness, but maybe she could help in the light.

“How about going over these numbers?” he told her, pushing the papers towards her. “We need to find some way to shore up the police force.”

Thea nodded as she watched him stand from his desk. “And what about you?”

Pulling on his jacket, he put his hand on her shoulder. “I’m going to go on patrol.”

>>>————>

Felicity sat across from Brian, just listening to him talk. It was rare that she found someone who could keep up with her, but when it came to talking about the kids at the center, he was a non-stop talking machine. She had to admire his dedication. He got to know ever single one of those kids. He knew their family situation, where they went to school, what subjects they liked. He was going to make sure those kids succeeded if it was the last thing he did.

“I know he could really do something with his life,” Brian was saying as he looked up from his plate. Seeing how she was staring at him, he laughed lightly, bringing his napkin to his mouth. “I’m sorry. I’m probably just boring you to tears.”

“Not at all,” Felicity told him. “I love it when you talk about the kids. You mean so much to them and so does the center. You’ve probably saved more than one of their lives just by getting them off the street.”

“All they needed was a little encouragement,” he explained, reaching over to take her hand. When she felt the warmth of his touch, a smile came over her face. “You’re helping too.”

Felicity laughed as she averted her eyes. “I’m not doing anything,” she corrected. “It’s just a bunch of old computers.”

“Hey.” Squeezing her hand lightly, he got her attention back as she looked up at him. “Those computers are really making a difference. Did you know that before those computers, Andrew couldn’t even get his homework done? His dyslexia made it difficult to get his homework done. Now, because of those computers, he can have the text books read to him and he finishes in half the time. His grades have skyrocketed since he got access to them.”

“They should have provided those at school.”

“The schools are almost as bad off as some of these kids. You’re making a difference, Felicity. Please, don’t forget that.”

Felicity felt her heart warm at his words. All she wanted to do was try to make up for what had happened in Havenrock. She had her nights with Oliver, but her work at the center was really having an effect on young lives. It was enough to make her think that maybe someday she’d be able to forgive herself for what she had done.

“But enough about me and the center,” he said with a bright smile as he returned his hands to his utensils. “How’s the consulting work going?”

Felicity cringed a little before recovering and giving him a nod. “Good,” she replied, going back to her own meal. “You’d be amazed how many companies out there lack proper cyber security.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” he replied as he brought his fork to his mouth. “It’s a good thing they have you then.”

Felicity forced a smile as she looked down at her plate. She hated lying to him, but she couldn’t exactly tell him that her night time job wasn’t consulting for companies all over the globe, but actually being the tech support for a masked vigilante. She had made up the excuse the first time Oliver had called her during one of their dates. It wasn’t easy coming up with reasons why she couldn’t stay out late, so she had said she had to maintain contact with overseas employers. The time difference was enough to make it plausible at least.

Their table fell into an uncomfortable silence that was only interrupted when Felicity’s phone went off. She immediately recognized the ringtone and let out a frustrated sigh. Pulling out the device, she got to her feet and gave Brian an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry,” she told him. 

“One of your contracts?” he surmised as she got up from the table.

Felicity just nodded as she moved away from the table to a more secluded area of the restaurant. She had told Oliver she needed the night off and was rather annoyed that he still decided to call.

“This had better be important,” she said curtly, keeping her voice low.

The silence on the other side of the call made her anger quickly morph into concern as she checked to make sure the call was still connected. “Oliver?”

“I’m sorry,” he said softly, barely loud enough for her to hear him. “I need your help.”

“Where are you?”

“Down at the docks.”

“What??” Felicity looked around nervously when she realized her voice had gotten a little too loud. “You went on patrol without me??”

“You took the night off,” he reminded her, “and this couldn’t wait.”

“Oliver, you know better than to go out on your own!” she scolded.

“Do you think maybe you can yell at me later?” he interrupted, annoyance clear in his voice. “I really do need your help right now.”

Felicity looked back into the restaurant and saw Brian patiently sitting at their table. “I’m kind of… busy.”

The silence on the line spoke volumes to Felicity. She knew that he would try to do whatever he was doing without her if she didn’t do something and that would probably end up with him getting either hurt or killed.

Letting out a sigh, she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. “What do you need?”

“I need to find a way into the warehouse at 413 River Street,” he explained. “It’s wired with an alarm system that I’ve never seen before.”

“And this has to be done now?” she asked, leaning over to take a glance back at her table where Brian was patiently waiting. She had plans for tonight and now it looked like they’d be changing.

“Felicity, I wouldn’t have called you if it wasn’t important,” Oliver explained. “Something is going down tonight and it involves what is going on inside that warehouse.”

Felicity let out a sigh as she closed her eyes again. “It’s going to take me a few minutes,” she explained. “I’m not near a computer right now.”

“Where are you?” Oliver asked, his voice laced with confusion.

“Just give me 10 minutes,” Felicity replied, ignoring his question before disconnecting the call. Shaking her head slightly, she headed back to the table. As she approached, Brian stood up with a look of concern on his face.

“Everything alright?” he asked.

“Not really,” she replied, walking over to take his hand. “I’m afraid I have to go.”

“Emergency in China?” he guessed as she picked up her wrap.

“Not this time,” she replied. “This time it’s local. One of my contracts was hacked. I have to go there to try to fix it.”

“Do you need me to drop you off?” he offered.

Felicity gave him a sad smile as she reached over to touch his arm. “I’ll just take a cab.” Reaching up to him, she pulled him down and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “I’m really sorry about this.”

“No, no, I understand,” he replied. “You go… save the company from the evil hackers of the world.”

Felicity tried to smile again, but it was hard when she knew she was lying to him. With one more quick kiss, she turned and headed out of the restaurant, flagging down a cab as she went. 

>>>————>

Oliver maintained his position behind the trash bin, keeping his eyes on the warehouse in front of him. Until he heard from Felicity, there wasn’t much he could do but wait. He knew his intel was on point based on the flurry of activity around the building. He just didn’t know what was going on.

“Come on, Felicity,” he muttered, getting more an more anxious as time passed. It wasn’t like her to be away from her computers. Even at home she could have hacked into their system and let him in. The only time he had known of her not to be tied to something electronic was… Oliver felt his heart drop down into his stomach when he realized where she must have been. The only time she was away from her computers was when they had gone out to dinner. Even then she had usually had a tablet with her, but if she was on a date…

Oliver shook his head to try to focus on what was important. Right now, what was important was what was going on inside that building. With the arrival of the truck, he wasn’t sure how long he was going to be able to wait. He could just break into the building, but the alarm would surely go off and make his presence known. He wanted to gather his intel as quietly as possible, but for that, he needed Felicity.

As an armed guard made his way around the warehouse, Oliver knew he had to move soon. Letting out a soft groan, he began to get up to move in when he heard the comms come to life.

“I’m here,” came her voice, making him immediately retake his position.

“What can you tell me?” he asked, keeping his eyes on the building. The guard he had seen before had continued on his way, now moving away from Oliver’s location.

“Getting infrared coverage of the building now,” she told him as he heard her keyboard clicks in his ear. “It looks like there is a group of people in the southwest corner of the building. They all seem to be grouped together in a small area with a couple of people surrounding them. Do you think they’re hostages?”

Oliver crouched down lower when a truck came around the corner. The driver backed into one of the loading docks and got out, heading for one of the warehouse’s access doors. Making his way to the building, Oliver headed for one of the other access doors, closer to the southwest corner. Pressing his back against the wall, he double checked to make sure no one else was coming before looking down at the keypad lock. “Can you unlock the doors?”

“One second.”

Oliver watched keypad, checking for the red light to turn green, before hearing movement coming from around the corner. “Overwatch, someone’s coming.”

“One second.”

“I don’t have a second.” Pulling an arrow from his quiver, he readied it as he watched. He could see the shadow of a man coming around the corner and the shadow contained the outline of a powerful weapon. Oliver was just about ready to loose his arrow when he heard the keypad beep and the red light change to green. Not wasting any time, he put his arrow away and pushed open the door, quickly making his way inside before the guard noticed anything.

“I’m in,” he said quietly as he made his way down a long corridor.

“Take the next left.”

Pulling out an arrow, Oliver readied it as he proceeded down the hall. Pushing his back into the wall, he glanced around the corner before continuing on his way.

“The room on the right is where the group of people are.”

Slowly walking up to the closed door, Oliver stole a glance through the window. He could see the group of people Felicity had mentioned, but they weren’t hostages. He knew what was going on and it wasn’t good.

“They aren’t hostages,” he told her.

“Who are they?”

Oliver sighed as he took note of how many guards were in the room. The group of people that were all clustered together were all women, under the age of 25. They were locked in a large cage and looked like they hadn’t had access to food or water for days.

“Call the police and tell them to bring medical personnel,” he instructed.

“Medical?” After a few seconds, Oliver could hear her gasp over the comms, but she quickly recovered as he heard her contact the authorities. Now all Oliver had to do was make sure it was safe for them to come in. Inside the room, there were two guards. They would be easy enough to take out, but he didn’t know how many more were outside and handling them all by himself might be difficult. Taking a deep breath, he looked inside the room again. All of the women looked so scared and hungry. He had to make sure they were safe.

Readying himself for a fight, Oliver grasped the door handle and swung the door open, rolling into the room before anyone could notice. He was able to let loose one arrow quickly, knocking the weapon from one of the guard’s hands. The rest was a blur of fists and kicks as he quickly subdued the men.

When he looked back to the cage, he saw the women had all moved to the back and huddled against each other. Heading to the door, he looked at their expectant faces. “I’ll be right back,” he told them, eliciting confused looks from the lot. Taking a chance, he repeated the message in Russian, this time getting a more positive response from them. When he saw them start to relax a little, he turned away from the cage and headed out. He had a few more men to deal with.

It didn’t take long for Oliver to subdue the remaining men around the warehouse and in a few minutes, he heard the welcome sounds of emergency sirens. When the first police car pulled around the corner, he went back inside the building and unlocked the cage, indicating to the women that it was safe to exit. He made sure they all got out and were attended to before slipping out the back and away from the scene.

As Oliver entered the bunker, he could hear typing coming from the command center. Part of him had hoped that Felicity had gone home, but somehow he knew she would still be there. Walking into the center, he stopped when he saw her. Her normal business casual dress was replaced by a form fitting burgundy halter dress. Her back was exposed down to her waist. Her blond hair was pinned up, exposing her creamy neck. She looked… breathtaking.

His entrance must have caught her attention because as soon as he approached, she started talking.

“The police brought the women to Starling General,” she told him as she turned to face him. “They’ll be taken care of.”

“That’s… um… that’s good,” he stammered, nodding slightly to try to get his sensed about him again. Pulling his eyes away from her, he walked through the command center and deposited his bow, taking a deep breath as he put it into its case.

“So… how did you find out about this?” she asked.

“The head of the Bratva in Star City paid me a visit today,” he explained as he sat down at his workbench. Maybe if he didn’t look at her, he’d be able to keep his senses about him. “He was trying to use my former connections to the Russian mob to his advantage so he could expand his business in the city. I put some feelers out and heard about a shipment coming in tonight and what it might contain.”

“I guess it’s a good thing you did,” she told him as she leaned back in her chair. “All of those women are safe now because of you.”

Oliver glanced over at her and gave her a small awkward smile before quickly turning back to his arrows. When he heard her typing start again, he risked another glance over to her. “I’m sorry to have interrupted your evening,” he told her. “You should probably just… head out.”

“Not until I setup some alerts for Bratva activity,” she told him as she continued to work. “If they think they will be able to up their game without us noticing, they’ve got another thing coming. We don’t want any surprises now, do we?”

“No,” Oliver said softly as he looked down at his arrows. “Surprises are not fun.” Looking back over to her, he held in the emotions that were threatening to come out. Seeing her dressed up for a date had been quite the unwelcome surprise and one he could have done without.

As she continued to work, Oliver got up and unzipped his jacket. He had just hung it up when he heard her chair spin around and her shoes tapping on the raised surface.

“What happened?”

Oliver looked over his shoulder at her as she looked down at his arm. On the back of his left arm was a significant cut. He could barely see it, but now that she pointed it out, he had to admit that it did burn. Looking over at her, he shrugged, not wanting to make her stay any longer than necessary.

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s always just nothing with you, isn’t it?” she scolded, reaching out to grab his arm to take a closer look. She was a bit surprised when he pulled his arm away.

“It’s fine,” he told her, glancing at her over his shoulder. “I can take care of it.”

“And how are you going to do that?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips. “It’s on the back of your arm. You plan on using a mirror to stitch yourself up?”

“Maybe,” he countered, sounding a bit more harsh than he should.

Felicity just sighed as she pulled her hands off of her hips. “Please, Oliver. Let me do this.” Oliver looked at her over his shoulder before allowing her to pull him over to the medical table. With a tap on the table from Felicity, he climbed up and sat there, watching her as she gathered what she needed to tend to his wound.

“How did this happen?” she asked as she began to clean the injury.

“I’m not really sure,” he responded, watching her as she worked. “I really just didn’t even feel it.”

“It’s not deep,” she revealed as she continued her work. “I don’t think it needs stitches.”

Oliver just nodded as he watched her. She cleaned up the injury and started putting butterfly bandages over it to hold the cut closed. As he looked at her, he found he was unable to hold in what he wanted to say.

“You look amazing.”

Felicity paused what she was doing for a moment before feeling the blush start to warm her face. “Thank you,” she said softly as she put the last bandage on.

“I’m sorry I interrupted your night,” he repeated. “I didn’t know you were…”

“Dating?” she completed as she started putting things away.

“Yeah.”

Felicity fidgeted with the medical tray for a moment before finally putting it back into place. “I didn’t go searching for someone,” she told him. “It just sort of… happened.”

Oliver nodded, trying to feel better because she hadn’t been actively trying to find someone to replace him, but failing miserably.

“Are you happy?”

Felicity closed the cabinet and thought about it for a moment. Was she happy? Sure. Was she as happy as she was with Oliver? No, but maybe one day she would be again. Looking back to him, she could see the question lingering in his eyes. Giving him a small smile, she nodded, unsure of what his reaction would be. What she saw in his eyes was a mixture of sadness and relief. She knew he wanted her to be happy, but she also knew that he wanted it to be with him.

“Good,” he said softly as he climbed off the table. Reaching over to her, he gently squeezed her hand as he gave her a small smile. As he walked away, she watched him leave, knowing that she had just broken his heart yet again.

>>>————>

Nikolai slammed his hand on the desk before falling into the chair. “How could this have happened?” he shouted, looking at the men surrounding him. “How did the police find out about the shipment?”

“It was the Green Arrow,” one of the men told him. “He must have tipped them off.”

“The Green Arrow,” Nikolai hissed as he shook his head. “Yet another problem this city has yet to deal with. Perhaps our new mayor should be focusing on ridding the city of its vigilante problem instead of making things more difficult for businessmen.” Shaking his head again, Nikolai folded his hands in front of him as he considered his next move. “If the mayor would have joined with us, this would not have been a problem. The police would have stayed away just as I had requested. Well, I think it’s time Mayor Queen finds out what happens when you defy the Bratva.”


	3. Chapter 3

Thea unlocked her apartment door and walked in, letting out a deep sigh. Another long day at City Hall had come to a close and she was exhausted. It had been a couple of days since Oliver had made his surprising visit to the mayor’s office. She had hoped that it was a sign that he was going to be more active in his role as mayor, but when he had mentioned the visitor from the Bratva, she knew it wasn’t going to happen. Saying no to the Bratva didn’t come without consequences and the Green Arrow was needed more than the mayor at the moment. She just hoped he would be able to take care of that particular problem quickly. If she had to sit through many more of these meetings without him, she was going to go nuts.

Dropping her purse on the counter, she walked over to the refrigerator and checked inside. She thought she had some leftover Thai food from a couple of days ago. When she saw the familiar square box, a smile came over her face, but when she opened it up to smell it, her smile turned into a grimace as she pulled it away.

“Guess not,” she said, dumping the box into the garbage. Putting her hands on her hips, she looked around her apartment for anything she could eat. She had been so busy she hadn’t really had a chance to get to the store. Not that she knew anything about cooking. No, her brother seemed to have inherited all of the cooking genes.

Opening a drawer, she quickly rifled through the delivery menus until she found one that was to her liking. Walking over to her purse, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed the restaurant. “Yes, I’d like to place an order for delivery,” she stated. Looking down at the menu, she focused on what would satisfy her growling stomach. “Um… I’ll have…”

A sound from within her apartment caught her attention as she stopped talking and listened. Looking around, she focused on her hearing, but the sound of the person on the phone was a distraction. Ending the call, Thea quietly put the phone down on the counter, keeping her eyes out into the main part of her apartment. 

As she headed out of the kitchen, she grabbed a knife from the counter and held it up. She knew she was probably just being paranoid, but her instincts were rarely wrong. Walking across the threshold, it was only a second before she saw someone out of the corner of her eye, lunging for her. Stepping back, she managed to avoid getting hit as she reached over and knocked him in the back of the head with the back end of the knife. As one man was falling another was aiming what looked like a tranquilizer gun at her. Throwing the knife at him, she caught him in the chest as the weapon fell from his hand. As the man on the floor started to get back up, Thea swung her leg around, kicking him in the face and knocking him back down, unconscious. Grabbing a sculpture from a nearby table, she made her way to the other man, knocking him over the head as he also fell to the ground.

Thea tried to catch her breath as she walked over and picked up her phone. Hitting the familiar contact, she waited patiently for him to pick up. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm her nerves until she heard her brother’s greeting over the phone.

“Yeah, it’s me,” she said casually, still breathing deeper than she would have liked. When did she get so out of shape? “You know those Russian bad guys you told me about? Yeah… I think they paid me a visit. Yeah, I’m ok. What do you want done with them? Ok… see you in a few.”

After disconnecting the call, Thea put it back on the counter and looked around her apartment. Where did she keep that rope?

>>>————>

Nikolai wasn't a patient man. Most of his employees knew this. When the previous captain in Star City had met his end, it didn't take him long to come in and take over. Patience was for the weak and foolish and Nikolai was neither. As he sat at his desk, he waited... And he hated waiting.

The fiasco at the warehouse could never happen again. He had given Oliver enough warning. He knew what would happen if he went against the Bratva. If you cross the Bratva, your family crosses the Bratva. This could not go unanswered and Nikolai was sending a message loud and clear.

The men he had sent to recover Thea Queen should have been back by now. It was a simple task. How difficult was it to kidnap a tiny woman? Once he had Thea Queen, Oliver would do whatever he told him. He knew how much his younger sister meant to him. He would do anything to protect her. Little did he know what Nikolai had in store for the young Queen. He wouldn’t even have to keep her as his hostage. No, he had better plans for her than that.

The sound of commotion outside got his attention as he looked up from his desk with a frown. When the door to the office burst open, he quickly got up as one of his lieutenants informed him of what was going on. Making his way outside, he stopped when he saw what had caused the commotion. The two men he had sent after Thea Queen were strung up by their feet, hanging by a crane 20 feet in the air.

Nikolai watched as his men lowered the men to the ground. He could see they were unconscious and one of them had a wound in his shoulder. A piece of paper was shoved into one of their pockets and it was retrieved by one of the men helping to get them down. He handed it to Nikolai who frowned as he opened it up and read the enclosed noted.

_This is your only warning._

Nikolai growled as he crumpled up the paper in his hands. Who does he think he’s dealing with here? Oliver may be able to protect his sister, but there were more people who were important to him. He wouldn’t be able to protect them all of the time. Dropping the paper on the ground, he turned and headed back into his office. It was only a matter of time.

>>>————>

“Do you think this will be the end of it?” Thea asked as she opened the door to her apartment and walked through, leading Oliver in behind her.

“Doubtful,” Oliver replied as he closed the door behind him. “Nikolai wants to establish his leadership in Star City. He won’t let one set back deter him.”

“It was weird though,” Thea told him as she walked over to sit on her couch. “They didn’t try to kill me. One of them had a tranq gun.”

“Killing you won’t do them any good,” Oliver explained as he joined his sister on the couch. “They want to use you as leverage. As long as they have you, they have a hold over me.”

Thea smiled as she reached over and patted Oliver on the leg. “Well, it’s a good thing they didn’t get me then, isn’t it?”

“Don’t get complacent, Speedy,” Oliver told her with a serious tone. “As long as I’m the mayor, you will be a target.”

Thea just waved her hand as she leaned back onto the couch. “I’m pretty sure I can take care of myself.”

“Just keep your wits about you,” Oliver told her. “They go after family. You’re the only family I have left.”

Thea froze a moment before looking over at her brother. “Is it only family?” she asked. “Not someone who was… almost family?”

Oliver’s eyes opened wide as he jumped from the couch and grabbed his phone from his pocket. She wasn’t exactly family, but Thea was right. If they couldn’t get to his family, they’d go for the next closest person. Pressing her contact information, he felt his heart pounding in his chest as he waited for her to answer.

“Come on, come on…”

He was just about to run out of the door when he heard the line connect and a very sleepy Felicity answer. “Hello? Oliver? Do you know what time it is?”

Oliver let out a sigh of relief as he closed his eyes and leaned against the wall. “I’m sorry to call so late,” he apologized. “I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“Why wouldn’t I be alright?” she asked, sounding a bit more awake. “Did something happen?”

Oliver looked over at Thea as she smiled and got up from the couch. She could tell he wanted some privacy. As he watched her walk back to her bedroom, he slid down the wall as took a deep breath. He promised he would never lie to her. She needed to know.

“Thea was attacked tonight.”

“Oh my god! Is she alright?”

“Yes, she’s fine,” Oliver told her. “You know she can take care of herself.”

“Do you think it was the Bratva that attacked her?” Felicity asked as he heard the bed covers rustling over the phone.

“I know it was them,” he explained. “After what happened down on the docks, they had no choice but to try to force the issue.”

“And by force the issue, you mean go after Thea,” she surmised. “To use her against you.”

“That’s what they do,” he said softly, just happy to be hearing her voice. “They go after the target’s family, to use them as leverage.”

“Well, they’ll probably think twice before going after Thea again,” she said lightly. “But you still sound worried.”

Oliver let out a sigh as he leaned his head back against the wall. “They won’t just go after Thea,” he revealed.

The silence on the line confirmed to Oliver that Felicity understood what he was trying to tell her.

“Oliver…” Her voice was so quiet, he barely even heard it.

“Would you do something for me?” he asked, not letting her finish what she was going to say.

“Anything.”

Oliver felt a smile start to form, but it didn’t make it all the way there. “Please… just stay home for the next few days. The loft is well protected. Keep the alarm on and just… don’t go out.”

The silence on the line made him a little nervous, but eventually she replied, “Ok.”

Oliver let out a sigh as he leaned forward onto his knees. “Thank you.”

“You’ll have to bring me some of the equipment from the bunker though,” she told him. “I don’t have everything I need here and I’m not going to let you go after the Bratva alone again.”

This time Oliver did smile as he closed his eyes and sighed. “I’ll bring it to you in the morning.”

“I’ll text you the list of what I need.”

“Ok.”

A silence fell between them again and Oliver knew he needed to hang up. “Well, I’ll just… let you go back to sleep.”

“Ok.”

“I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Yeah.”

Oliver knew it was time to hang up, but he just couldn’t make himself do it. He just wanted to hear her voice a little while longer.

“Good night, Oliver.”

“Good night.”

With that, he heard the line disconnect as he pulled the phone from his ear. He was probably being paranoid, but until he could be sure the the Bratva wouldn’t go after her, he had to make sure she was safe. Hopefully it would be over soon and he wouldn’t have to worry anymore, but he knew he always would.

>>>————>

Pressing the button to disconnect the call, Felicity flopped back onto her bed with a sigh. The last thing she wanted to do was be stuck in the loft for a few days, but she would do as Oliver asked and stay home. Pressing a button on her phone, she pulled up her calendar to see if she had anything pressing over the next few days. She let out a groan when she realized that she was suppose to meet with Brian in the morning to go over the finances for the center. Usually they did that at the center, but maybe she could convince him to come to the loft. Knowing it was too late to call him, she sent him a quick text message and dropped the phone back onto the bedside table. Throwing her arm across her eyes, she tried to relax to fall back to sleep, but Oliver’s phone call was keeping her awake. Throwing her covers off, she slipped into her slippers and made her way downstairs. As she passed by the alarm pad, she cringed when she realized she hadn’t turned it on before going to bed. The fact of the matter was, she hadn’t even been using it. She didn’t see a point. There was a doorman preventing anyone from coming up who wasn’t suppose to. Why would she need the alarm?

Pressing the code to arm the system, she walked into the kitchen and got a glass from the cabinet. She was just about to grab the milk from the refrigerator when a sound caught her attention. Her grip on the glass tightened as she slowly turned around and looked into the loft’s living space. Walking back out there, she slowly took in everything, looking for anything that might be out of place. When nothing popped up, she shook her head and headed back to the kitchen.

“Damn paranoia,” she muttered as she put the glass on the counter. Reaching for the refrigerator handle, she was just about to open it when she felt more than heard the presence behind her. As she turned around, she had just caught sight of a man holding a weapon up at her when she felt a sting on her arm. Looking down she saw the tranquilizer dart sticking out of her arm. She pulled the dart out, but she was already starting to feel the effects. It didn’t take long before she felt darkness encompassing her as she fell to the ground with a thud.

>>>————>

Something wasn’t right. Oliver could feel it. Felicity had said she was going to text him in the morning with what she needed from the bunker, but he hadn’t heard from her since their phone call last night. He knew she would want to get things setup in the loft as soon as possible. When he hadn’t gotten the text, he had tried calling her, but had not gotten a response. He had waited for 30 minutes before trying again, thinking that maybe she was just in the shower, but after that call also went unanswered, he started to get concerned. If she answered her phone when she was already in bed, there would be no reason why she shouldn’t be answering now. That’s what brought him to where he was, standing in the elevator on his way up to the loft.

The dinging of the elevator indicating it’s arrival brought him out of his musings as he waited for the doors to open. As he entered the hallway, he was surprised to hear someone knocking. When he turned the corner, his guard went up when he saw a young blond man standing outside of her door.

“Felicity?” he called. “Are you up?”

Oliver’s let his guard down slightly when he realized that anyone from the Bratva wouldn’t be knocking on her door. No, this must be the mysterious boyfriend. As he approached, the man turned to him with a look of confusion on his face.

“Mayor Queen,” he said, holding up his hand. Oliver took it and gave the man a stern handshake as he forced a politician’s smile onto his face. 

“I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage,” Oliver replied, gripping the man’s hand a bit tighter.

“Oh… Brian Sinclair,” he introduced. “I’m a… friend of Felicity’s.”

Oliver nodded slightly has he let go of Brian’s hand. He didn’t want to consider that the reason she wasn’t answering was that she was getting ready to see Brian. She had promised she wouldn’t leave the loft, but the thought of another man being in the place he used to share with her made his skin crawl.

“What brings you here so early, Brian?” he asked, feigning politeness.

“Felicity and I were suppose to meet to go over the finances of the youth center,” he explained. “I run the Sinclair Youth Center in the Glades. She texted me late last night and asked if we could work here instead of at the center, but when I call her to confirm, she didn’t answer.”

Oliver frowned as he looked at the closed door. “She wasn’t answering my calls either.” Oliver decided it was his time to bang on her door. “Felicity!” he called as he pounded on the door.

“Maybe she’s in the shower,” Brian offered as he watched Oliver pull some keys from his pocket.

“For two hours?” Oliver asked, as he reached over and pushed a key into the lock. Brian looked at him in confusion as he unlocked and opened the door.

“You have a key to her apartment?” As the door opened, the sound of the alarm warning going off got Oliver’s attention. Walking over to it, he punched in the code, silencing the warning. “And you know her alarm code.” Brian just shook his head as he looked around the seemingly empty apartment.

“I don’t think she’s here,” Brian observed as Oliver raced through the loft. When Oliver ran up the stairs, Brian called after him. “I don’t think that’s a good idea!”

“Felicity!” Oliver was passed panic at this point as he burst into the bedroom. A quick check of the bathroom yielded the same results: No Felicity.

Pulling out his phone, he dialed her number one more time, hoping that he was wrong. When he heard the ringing sound coming from downstairs, he walked to the top of the stairs, seeing Brian holding her phone and looking at Oliver in shock.

“She’s never more than three feet from her phone,” Oliver told him as he hung up his phone and descended the stairs.

“What’s going on here?” Brian asked as he put her phone down.

Oliver didn’t answer, but instead started to make a more thorough inspection of the apartment. Looking around, he knew there had to be something. When the Bratva take a prisoner, they always leave a sign that it was them. A casual observer might not notice, but the target would always know. As he looked around the apartment, Brian just watched him with a curious look on her face.

“What are you doing?” he asked as Oliver checked around every nook and cranny.

“Looking for clues as to who might have taken her.”

“You think she was kidnapped?” Brian asked in shock, causing Oliver to look at him.

“She didn’t take her phone and she’s not here,” Oliver reminded him. “What do you think?”

“But why would someone kidnap her?” Brian asked as he started looking around. “Ransom?”

“No,” Oliver answered, more confidently than Brian would have expected. He stopped looking around and just zeroed in on Oliver.

“You know who took her.” It was a statement, not a question.

Oliver stopped when he saw a book on the coffee table in front of the couch. It was a book written in Russian. Brian walked over to him as a piece of paper fell from the book. It floated down and slid right in front of Brian who quickly picked it up.

“I’ve seen this before,” he commented as he looked at the Russian letters on the paper. Oliver looked at him suspiciously as he walked over to look at the paper. “It’s appeared around the Glades quite often. I’ve seen kids come into the center with this written on their notebooks.” When Brian saw the look of recognition on Oliver’s face, he asked, “Do you know what it means?”

“It means ‘brotherhood’,” Oliver replied, dropping the book and heading towards the door. Brian quickly followed him, calling after him as he went.

“Where are you going?” he asked as he stopped at the loft door. “Shouldn’t we call the police?”

Oliver didn’t answer. Instead he headed for the elevator, pulling out his phone as he went. As the doors opened, he heard the call connect. “Thea, they took her. I know you wanted out, but…” Oliver closed his eyes and he let out a sigh as the elevator doors close. “Thank you, Thea. Meet me at the bunker as soon as you can.”

Ending the call, he slipped the phone back into his pocket as he tried to control himself. He could feel his rage building up inside and if he didn’t let it out soon, he was going to explode.

“AARRRGGHHH!!” Throwing a punch at the elevator door caused a dent to happen, but little else as he tried to calm down. Leaning forward onto the door with his hands, he dropped his head and tried to control his thoughts. He had to keep a clear head if he was going to get her back. And he was going to get her back… and they would regret ever taking her.

>>>————>

Felicity had no idea of where she was. All she knew was that it was cold and damp, kind of like their original lair. Maybe a basement somewhere in the Glades? The room she was in only had one small light and no windows. There was no way to know where she was. What she did know was that she was locked in a concrete room with a cot and toilet. At least she wouldn’t have to pee into a pail.

The sound of the door unlocking made her jump as she moved as far away from the door as she could. As the door swung open, she tried to look around them for any clues as to where she might be being held, but the men entering completely blocked her view. After one man walked in, another entered. This one was shorter, stockier, and wearing a tailer made suit. Definitely the man in charge.

“I assume you’re Nikolai,” she commented, causing the man to smile slightly.

“I see Oliver has told you about me,” he remarked. “I assume he also told you about my proposal.”

“I don’t think it was a very convincing proposal,” Felicity told him, crossing her arms in front of her.

“Apparently not,” Nikolai agreed, moving farther into the room. “Otherwise, you would not be here.”

“Don’t even think that this changes anything,” she told him, sounding more confident than she felt. “It doesn’t matter if you kidnap me or kill me. He will never agree.”

“Oh, I think you underestimate your value to him,” Nikolai continued.

“I think you overestimate it,” she countered. “News flash: I broke up with him. Taking me means nothing more than taking any of his other ex’s.”

“Somehow I doubt that’s true,” Nikolai countered. “He’s never asked for anyone’s hand in marriage until you. He will do what he’s told if he wants to see you again. But, in case you are correct, we have what you call… plan B.”

Nikolai indicated to the larger man on his left causing Felicity to look up at him. She tried to hide her fear, but knew she didn’t do it well. There wasn’t a whole lot of room to maneuver in the small room so staying out of the reach of the man was almost impossible. Felicity tried to skirt around him, but he just grabbed her with his strong hands, wrapping his arms around her from the back and pinning her arms to her side. With her arms useless, Felicity knew she had to do something else to try to break free. If it was just the two of them, she might still be able to escape. The door was still open. She just had to get free.

Swinging her head back as hard as she could, she tried to use the force of her skull to knock her captor off balance, but her head just bumped into the top part of his chest. She tried stepping on his feet, but he just picked her up as she started swinging her legs. She was able to kick back at his knees, but there wasn’t enough force to make him release her. As he carried her over to the cot, she saw another man wearing a white medical coat enter the room and join them just as she was dropped onto the mattress. Felicity tried to get up as soon as she was dropped, but the second man was too fast. Using straps she hadn’t seen before, he managed to get one of her ankles locked in before the bigger man forced her onto her back with her arms out. She continued to kick and scream wildly, but in the end, she just ended up wearing herself out. Once her arms and legs were restrained, the larger man backed away as the man in the white coat sat on the edge of the cot and pulled out a syringe from his pocket.

“What is that?” Felicity asked as she struggled against her bonds.

“Just something to help you relax,” the man said as he pulled the cap from the needle.

“You know, I think I’m going to have to pass,” Felicity told him as she kept her eyes on the sharp needle. “I’m not really a fan of sharp things.”

With her wrists bound to the bed, there wasn’t a whole lot Felicity could do to avoid getting stuck with the needle. The man in the white coat gripped her upper arm tightly as she continued to squirm, muttering, “No… no… no…” She watch in horror as the needle was brought to her arm, but before it sunk in, she closed her eyes and looked away, feeling the pinch and sting from the injection site. Within a few seconds, she started to feel herself get light headed as her muscles started to relax. She didn’t even notice when the man in the white coat got up, leaving her alone on the cot.

“How long until we can begin?” Nikolai asked as he watched Felicity continue to slowly squirm on the bed.

“30 minutes,” syringe man replied.

Nikolai smiled as he folded his hands in front of him. “Good.”

>>>————>

“Are you having any luck?” Oliver asked as he walked out of the bunker’s elevator. Thea had said she would go over the street cameras around Felicity’s building to see if they could catch her trail. They had to have something to go on.

“Not from the front of the building,” she replied as she clicked on the computer. “They must have gone in through the service entrance.”

“What about the camera around back?” he asked as she nodded and clicked around a few windows. She could feel Oliver breathing down her neck and it wasn’t helping.

“There was a van back there for a few hours,” she told him, “but then the driver got in and drove away.”

“Did anyone else get in?” Oliver asked, staring at the screen.

“The back of the van is blocked by the dumpster,” she informed him. “They knew just where to park to stay out of view.”

“Damn it!” Oliver shouted, pounding his hands onto the desk and making Thea jump.

“I tracked the van anyway,” Thea explained, giving Oliver a cautious look. “I lost track of it at Lowell Street.”

“What about Felicity’s tracker?” he asked, reaching up to squeeze his eyes.

Thea just shook her head as she turned to look at him. “It was in her phone.”

Oliver let out a huff before turning and heading over to where he kept his uniform.

“Where are you going?” Thea asked, getting up from the desk.

“To find Felicity.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the place where my twist on the comic book comes in. :)

Felicity woke feeling groggy. She had lost all track of time while in her little room. They kept injecting her with something that made her head swim. While she was under the influence of the drugs she had only a vague recollection of what had happened. A man in a white coat would come in and talk to her. She couldn't recall what they had talked about, but that's all it was. She was secretly grateful that it hadn't been anything more. She wasn't exactly able to defend herself. 

As she sat up, she realized that her head felt a little clearer than it had in a while. How long had she been there? She had lost all track of time. Her one little light didn't give her much of a clue as to what time it was. As she swung her legs over the edge of the cot, she felt something cold and metallic brush against her leg. Looking down at her cot, she frowned when she saw a small handgun sitting there. 

"What the hell?" she muttered as she picked up the weapon. It felt lighter than what she remembered a handgun should feel. Unlocking the clip, it fell into her hand as she groaned. 

"Of course it's not loaded," she mused as she dropped it back on the cot. It was strange that they would leave an weapon in her room, loaded or not. She didn't think they'd be that careless. 

Looking around her room, she let out a sigh as she tried again to find out if there was any way to get free or to be able to get a signal to Oliver. Walking over to the door, she tried it for what felt like the millionth time only to still find it securely locked. Putting her hands on her hips, she scanned the room. There had to be something. 

As she walked back to her cot, a high pitched sound started filling the room. It wasn't overly loud, but the pitch was hurting her ears. She put her hands over her ears to attempt to block the sound, but it wasn't very successful. Sitting back down on her cot, she winced as the sound felt like it was piercing her eardrum. After a few seconds another sound came over the speakers, the time the sound of a man's voice. She couldn't understand what he was saying though. It sounded like it was in Russian.

As she turned her focus to the voice, the high pitched sound faded out. Then when the voice stopped, she let out a sigh as she looked around. Without any kind of warning, a bright light came on, temporarily blinding her. When she was able to see again, she saw that the light was a projection and the projection was of...

"Oliver..."

She didn't know how it happened, but before she realized it, she was holding the weapon in her hand, pointing it at the projection on the wall. Her hand started shaking as she looked at the image. She didn't want to hurt Oliver. She couldn't. The next thing she knew, her finger tightened on the trigger as she heard the click of the weapon going off. The clicking continued, no matter how hard she tried to stop. Tears started sliding down her face as she looked at his picture. When the projection finally turned off, her arm fell as she collapsed to the ground, dropping the weapon as she went. Her tears finally subsided as she slipped into unconsciousness.

In a nearby room, two men sat watching the monitors. They could she their prisoner laying on the hard concrete floor as a guard walked in and picked her up, putting her back onto the cot.

“She hesitated," one of the men said as he jotted down some notes. 

“She just needs a few more sessions," the other replied as he smiled at the screen. "Soon she will be ready.”

>>>————>

“Where is she?!?”

Oliver held onto the man tightly as he dangled him over the edge of the building. It had been too long with no sighting of Felicity. His patience had long run out. It was time to resort to drastic measures.

“I don’t know!” the man yelled, as he tried to grip onto Oliver’s green leather covered arm. “Please! I have a family!”

“So does she!” Oliver growled back. “I know you work for Nikolai! Where would they have taken her??”

“I don’t know!” he repeated as he felt his feet begin to slip. “Please… I don’t know! I’m just a courier! They don’t tell me these things!”

Oliver knew that the man was telling the truth. The Bratva were very good at compartmentalizing information. No one knew more than they should for this very reason. Only the people closest to Nikolai would know where she was, but he had to do… something.

Letting out a frustrated groan, Oliver pulled the man back from the ledge and dropped him unceremoniously onto the gravel rooftop. He didn’t wait for the man to get up before pulling out a grappling arrow and shooting it across the street. As the wire pulled him across, he mentally cursed himself for yet another dead end. How many men has he questioned now? He was beginning to lose count. No one knew anything and he had to find out… something. Anything! She’d been missing for 4 days. How could he let her be gone for so long?

“We’ll find her, Ollie.” Thea’s soothing voice in his ear was the only thing keeping him together. Every time he would get frustrated, his sister would be there to reassure him. He didn’t know what he would have done had she not been his conscious in all of this.

“I’m going to check the docks again,” Oliver told her as he landed a few feet from his motorcycle.

“Haven’t you already checked them… twice?” she asked.

“Well, I’m going to check again!” he spat before closing his eyes and trying to control himself. “Speedy…”

“It’s ok,” she said softly. “I’m worried about her too.”

Oliver had just made it to his bike when the sound of someone coming around a corner got his attention. Pulling out an arrow, he readied it on his bow as he turned to the sound only to find Brian stepping out of the shadows, holding his hands up next to his head.

“Please don’t shoot me,” he said carefully. Oliver lowered his bow and put the arrow back into his quiver as Brian slowly approached. “I need your help.”

“With what?” Oliver asked, his voice effectively distorted through his voice modulator.

“My girlfriend,” Brian began, slowly lowering his hands. “You’ve saved her before. Felicity Smoak? She’s been missing for almost a week.”

“Call the police then,” Oliver said curtly before turning to climb onto his bike.

“I did,” Brian replied, making his way closer to him. “I don’t think they even believe she’s been kidnaped.”

“And you do?” Oliver asked.

Brian just nodded as he walked up to Oliver and held out a piece of paper. Oliver hesitated before reaching out and taking it. He recognized it as the paper they had found at the loft.

“The Russian mob have her,” Brian explained.

Oliver paused, not knowing how to react to Brian’s presence. He couldn’t tell him that he had been searching for her for the past four days.

“Please,” Brian began, causing Oliver to look at his face. He could see the pain and fear in his eyes. “I don’t know who else to turn to.”

“The Russian mob isn’t people you want to cross,” Oliver explained, handing back the paper.

“I know,” Brian replied, taking the paper back, “but I might know where she is.”

That got Oliver’s attention as he sat up straighter and looked at him curiously. “Where?”

Brian hesitated before walking closer to the motorcycle. “If you’re going after her, I want to go with you.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Oliver told him. “She wouldn’t want you getting hurt.”

“I know,” he said in understanding, “but I have information that might be useful. You need me.”

Oliver looked at him for a moment before getting off of the motorcycle and walking up to him, causing Brian to step back slightly. “Where. Is. She.”

Brian looked at him curiously, wondering why the Green Arrow would be so concerned about her well being. He knew that she had been saved by him before. Maybe there was something more going on between them.

“There’s an old nuclear fall out shelter about a mile outside of the Glades, past the old fire station,” Brian explained. “One of the kids at the center heard rumors about someone from the Russian mob taking over the place in the past month. The kids used to use it to hide out from the police because it’s practically a maze in there. One of them saw men carrying a women inside a few days ago. The description matched Felicity.”

Once Oliver got the location, he turned back to his motorcycle and climbed on. Brian quickly walked up to him, wanting to make sure he didn’t leave without him. “One of the kids drew me a map of the tunnels,” Brian explained. “You’ll need me if you want to find her.”

“Give me the map.”

“No.”

Oliver turned to him and growled. He didn’t have time to deal with Brian wanting to be a hero.

“Do you want to save… your girlfriend or not?” his hissed.

“Of course I do!” Brian insisted.

“Then give me the damn map!”

“No!”

Oliver just shook his head as he jump started the motorcycle. It would be easier having a map of the complex, but he didn’t have to have one. There was no way he was bringing Brian someplace where he could get hurt. He couldn’t do that to Felicity.

Without another word, Oliver tore off down the road, leaving a stunned Brian just standing there. When he heard Thea’s voice in his ear, he realized that she didn’t know what was going on.

“I have a lead on where she might be,” Oliver told her as he sped down the street.

“I heard,” Thea replied. “Let me see if I can get some eyes over there.”

It didn’t take long for Oliver to make it to the old fallout shelter. He ditched his bike and made his way closer, keeping as quiet as possible. He could see two armed guards outside of the shelter, guarding what looked like the only way in. He could see the surveillance camera over the door, most likely feeding a signal to somewhere in the bunker. It would have been close to impossible to get in without being noticed if it weren’t for the remarkable Felicity Smoak. Pulling out one of his special arrows made for him by Felicity, he aimed for the camera and let the arrow loose. It embedded itself into the concrete and send out an electrical signal, effectively making all electronic devices useless. The guards had heard the arrow’s impact and had turned to see what had made the sound. That gave Oliver the opportunity he needed. Letting loose a traditional arrow, he struck one of the guards in the shoulder before sending another into the other guard’s leg. Both of them went down, but neither was unconscious. It didn’t take him long to get to them, knocking them out with a single punch to each.

Noticing the keys on the belt of one of the guards, Oliver quickly recovered them and unlocked the door, heading down into the dark bunker. Keeping an arrow at the ready, he made his way down the narrow staircase. He could hear people coming towards him, but he was ready. Just as one was about to head up the stairs, he let loose an arrow, knocking the man down and causing him to fall into one that was following. Heading down the stairs at full speed, Oliver leapt over the first man, knocking into the second with both feet before landing. One swift punch and both were out. The engagement had caused more noise than he had wanted as he heard more people coming from down the hall. At the base of the staircase there were two directions he could take. Hearing movement from one side, he quickly went down the other.

“Speedy, I could use some help here,” he said quietly.

“I found the blueprints of the bunker,” she informed him, “but I don’t know how accurate they are.”

“Anything would be helpful,” he replied before he heard someone coming his direction. Leaning back against the wall, he waited until the man was within reach and then reached out with his arm, knocking him across his chest, causing him to fall to his back. One punch to the face and he was out.

“The blueprints just show one big room,” Thea told him. “Is that what you’re seeing?”

Oliver looked around, seeing multiple doors and multiple corridors heading in many different directions. “They must have changed things since it was built.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s all I have.”

Oliver swore under his breath as he slowly started heading towards the doors. Each one he found open, he would ignore, but each one that was locked, he would have to open and check for her. Looking down the corridor, he groaned when he realized it would take longer than he wanted to search the entire facility.

“Bet you could really use a map.”

Oliver turned and had an arrow at the ready only to find Brian standing behind him with his hands raised.

“I told you it was too dangerous,” Oliver hissed, lowering his bow as Brian approached.

“She’s my girlfriend,” Brian said forcefully as he pulled a paper out of his pocket.

Oliver was just about to grab the map from him and tell him to leave when the sound of someone coming caught his attention. Grabbing Brian by the arm, he quickly forced him into an unlocked room, following him closely as he closed the door most of the way. Looking out into the corridor, he could see two men passing them. He could hear voices over their radios speaking Russian as they walked down the corridor and what he heard caught his attention.

“Stay here,” Oliver ordered as he quietly opened the door and started following the men.

“Do you know what they were saying?” Brian asked, ignoring Oliver’s order to stay.

Oliver grimaced when he heard Brian’s voice. He didn’t have time to coddle Felicity’s new friend. If he insisted on getting himself killed, that was on him.

“They were told to check on the prisoner,” Oliver revealed as he kept a safe distance behind the men. He followed them down multiple corridors until they came to stop at one of the doors. Squatting down around one of the corners, Oliver watched as one of the guards pulled keys off of his belt and unlocked the door. Turning to Brian, who had squatted down next to him, he ordered, “Stay. Here.”

This time Brian just nodded as Oliver quickly got up and took out the guard standing in the corridor. The man who had gone into the room came back out when he heard the ruckus, only to be greeted by Oliver’s fist. It wasn’t long until both men were on the ground, knocked out.

Once Oliver was sure the men were out, he turned and looked into the dark room. Off to the side, he could see a small cot with blond hair flowing over it. Quickly walking into the room, he knelt down beside the cot, finally focusing on Felicity laying on her side, facing towards him with her eyes closed.

“Felicity,” he said softly, reaching up to touch her face. “Felicity, honey, you need to wake up.”

Oliver continued to gently touch her face, trying to get her to open her eyes. Usually she was such a light sleeper. He knew they must have drugged her if his gentle touches weren’t waking her up.

“Felicity…” This time Oliver gripped her shoulder and gently shook her, causing a groan to come from her throat. When he saw her eyes start to flutter open, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Ol’ver?”

“Come on, honey,” he said softly as he gripped her shoulders and tried to sit her up. “We need to go.” As he attempted to get her to sit, her eyes rolled back in her head as she leaned forward onto him. She wasn’t going to be able to walk out of there.

Oliver was just about to pick her up when Brian came in with a scared look on his face. “Someone’s coming.” When he saw Felicity leaning onto Oliver’s shoulder, he quickly went over and knelt down beside them. “What’s wrong with her?”

“She’s been drugged,” he explained, pulling her off of his arm. Looking towards the door, Oliver was torn between carrying Felicity out and taking care of the oncoming guards. “Can you carry her?”

Brian didn’t even hesitate as he nodded and pulled the map out of his pocket to hand to Oliver. Sliding one arm under her legs and the other around her back, Brian gently picked her up, grateful that she was awake enough to wrap her arms around his neck.

“Ol’ver?” she muttered against Brian’s shoulder.

Brian frowned as he looked down at her, but now was not the time to be jealous. Looking over at Oliver, he nodded, indicating that he was ready to go. Heading to the door, Oliver looked out into the corridor, hearing sounds coming from the way they had came. Opening the map Brian had given him, he was surprised to see that not only had the new construction put in many more rooms, it had also put in another exit.

“This way,” Oliver told him as they walked away from the sounds coming towards them. Oliver let Brian go ahead of him as he continued to look behind them for any signs of more guards. When they came to a T, Brian stopped, looking in both directions.

“Which way?”

Oliver stepped in front of him as he checked the map again, turning down to the right, he lead Brian towards a door that looked like every other one, except this one lead outside.

Holding up his hand, Oliver indicated for Brian to stop a few steps away from the door. Holding his finger up to tell him to maintain his silence, Oliver went to the door and put his ear to it. He didn’t hear anything, but he was sure there were guards on the other side. Reaching for the handle, he was just about to open it, when the door came open in his face, forcing him back against the wall behind it. He could see the scared look on Brian’s face as the guard who entered raised his weapon at him and started speaking in Russian. Using all of his strength, Oliver forced the door away from him, hitting the guard as it closed. The guard was stunned enough to lose his balance, giving Oliver the opportunity to swing a punch at him. One punch didn’t knock him down though as Oliver ducked to miss a punch from him. Using his legs Oliver swung out, swiping the legs out from under the other man. He has just fallen to the ground when another guard appeared in the doorway. Oliver was close enough that he could grab onto his rifle and swing it up, knocking the guard in the face and causing his nose to bleed. With a kick to the man on the ground and an elbow to the face of the man still standing, Oliver took out both men, leaving the path clear to exit.

Once Brian saw the men were down, he quickly advanced on Oliver’s position, waiting until Oliver checked around outside and indicated that the way was clear.

“How did you get here?” Oliver asked as he kept an eye on his surroundings.

“My car is on the other side of the woods,” Brian explained, keeping a tight grip on Felicity.

Without thinking about it, Oliver reached up and gently brushed back some of the hair that had fallen across Felicity’s face, allowing his thumb to gently caress her cheek. When he looked back to Brian, he saw the other man looking at him in confusion.

“Get her out of here,” Oliver told him as he heard more voices coming from inside the building.

“What about you?” Brian asked as the voices got closer.

“GO!” Oliver yelled, pulling out an arrow and readying it on his bow.

Brian didn’t have to be told again as he quickly turned and headed towards the woods. Oliver turned to watch him go as long as he dared before men started showing up. He had to keep them in check to give Brian enough time to get Felicity out of there, no matter what it took.


	5. Chapter 5

“Hey, wait up!”

Oliver heard Thea call to him, but he didn’t slow down. Once Brian had left with Felicity, Thea tracked him to Starling General. It hadn’t taken him long to get away from the remaining Bratva at the fallout shelter and as soon as he was out of his leathers and back into his suit, he was on his way. Thea had tagged along, but he wasn’t going to wait for her. He had to see if Felicity was alright.

When he arrived at her door, Oliver grabbed the handle and was about to open it when he saw someone was already in her room. Looking through the window, he could see Brian sitting beside her bed, holding her hand and looking at her with concern. Felicity’s eyes were shut and it looked like she was comfortably sleeping. Her color looked better than what it had been when they had found her so he knew she was doing better, but he had hoped that she would have been awake when he arrived. His heart sunk when he realized that Brian was in the place where he wanted to be, by her side, giving her comfort. Did he even have the right to be there?

“Why aren’t you going in?” Thea asked as she caught up with her brother. As she looked through the window, she frowned when she saw the other man there. “Who’s that?”

“That’s Brian,” Oliver revealed, trying unsuccessfully to hide his jealousy.

“Ah. Felicity’s new boyfriend.” Oliver gave her an annoyed glare before turning back to the scene through the window. Rolling her eyes, Thea grabbed the door handle and pushed the door open before Oliver could say another word.

The sound of the door opening got Brian’s attention as he tore his gaze from Felicity. When he saw Thea enter, he looked at her in confusion, but when Oliver followed shortly after, his confusion morphed into anger as he got up from his seat.

“You!” As he approached Oliver, Thea stepped between them, putting her hands up in defense of her brother. “You’re the reason she’s in here! I knew you knew who had taken her and you did NOTHING to get her back!”

“Hey! That’s enough!” Thea shouted, pushing back on Brian as he tried to get around her.

“They were trying to use her to get to you!” Brian continued, still fighting against Thea.

Oliver put up his hands and tried to remain as calm as possible, but hearing Brian’s accusations made him realize that it really was all his fault. “I know,” he said quietly.

Brian’s face changed into an expression of confusion as he stopped struggling against Thea. “You know?? You knew she was a possible target and you just did… nothing??”

“Hey!” Thea said angrily as she pushed on Brian’s chest. “You don’t get to say that! You have no idea what he did to protect her or what he did to get her back!”

“Thea…” Oliver placed his hand on Thea’s shoulder, but he couldn’t stop her rant.

“Do you even understand the pressure he’s under at City Hall?” she continued. “Do you have any clue how many of us put ourselves out there to make this city better? He has done more for Felicity and this city than anyone will EVER know and I am not going to stand her and let you try to KNOCK HIM DOWN!”

“Thea, please…” Oliver said quietly, finally causing Thea to turn her head to look at him. “He’s right. She was in danger because of me.”

“No, she was in danger because you’re trying to help,” she corrected. “She would have been perfectly safe if you had just given in to organized crime, but instead, you decided to take a stand against them. She knew that. She understood. And she would rather put herself in danger for you to do that than be perfectly safe and have you let this city crumble.” Turning back to Brian, she let her full anger out on him. “So don’t you dare accuse him of not caring about her! She understood the risks and if you knew her at all, you would know that!”

Oliver gave Thea’s shoulder a squeeze as she took a deep breath to try to calm herself. Seeing that Brian was a little more calm as well, he risked asking, “How is she?”

Brian took a deep breath before looking back over to Felicity. “The doctor’s are trying to flush out the drugs from her system,” he explained. “They think she’s going to be out for another couple of hours.”

“But she’s ok?” Thea asked, looking over at her unconscious friend.

“Yeah,” Brian said letting out a breath.

Thea nodded as she looked up at Brian. She knew he was just concerned about Felicity, but they all were. Reigning in her emotions, she took some time to really look at the man in front of her. 

“When was the last time you slept?”

“I’m fine,” he told her as he turned back to the bed. “I want to be here when she wakes up.”

“But you said that wasn’t going to be for another couple of hours,” she reminded him. “Maybe you should take a break before then. Get some shuteye and come back refreshed.” When he didn’t turn away from Felicity, Thea walked up to him and gently touched his arm. “She wouldn’t want to see you so exhausted.”

Brian looked to Thea briefly before looking back to Felicity. He really didn’t want to leave her, but he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. When he felt a slight tug on his arm, he looked back to Thea who was giving him an understanding smile.

“Come on. I know where they have the most comfortable couch,” she told him, finally getting him to move. “Ollie will let us know if she wakes up.”

Brian looked over at Oliver who tore his eyes from Felicity long enough to give them a reassuring nod. With one more glance to Felicity, Brian nodded as he let Thea lead him to the door.

“I’m Thea, by the way,” she introduced, giving him a smile.

“Brian Sinclair.”

The rest of their conversation was lost on Oliver as he walked over and looked down at Felicity. Leaning down to her, he gently kissed her forehead as he reached over to touch her face. “I’m so sorry,” he said softly.

When he felt her move beneath his lips, he quickly pulled back and looked at her with hope. Taking a seat in the chair Brian had vacated, he took her and and looked at her in anticipation. When she turned her head and slowly opened her eyes a little, he couldn’t stop the smile from coming onto his face. 

“Hey,” he said softly as he gave her hand a squeeze.

“Ol’ver…”

“Yeah,” he replied, bringing up her hand to gently kiss her fingers. “How are you feeling?”

“Sleepy,” she drew out as she tried to keep her eyes open.

“Well, you should sleep then,” he told her, keeping her hand under his chin.

Felicity just groaned as she forced her eyes open. “I knew you would save me.”

“Well, I had a little help,” he revealed. “I couldn’t have found you without Brian.”

“Really?”

“Mmm hmm,” he answered. “He’s a good guy. He cares a lot about you.”

“Yeah…” Felicity couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer as she let them slowly close. Oliver was just about to release her hand when he felt her grip it tighter. When he looked at her face, her eyes were open again. “Will you be here when I wake up?”

Oliver smiled as he leaned up and kissed her forehead. “There’s no place I’d rather be.”

>>>————>

The man was nervous, standing in front of his boss. Somehow he’d been the one who had to bring him the news. The woman they had held had been rescued… by the Green Arrow. He definitely didn’t want to be the one to bear this particular bad news. The boss had been in a very short-tempered mood lately.

As he looked over the desk, he waited for any kind of reaction from his boss. The quiet was making him more nervous than him yelling. Looking to the man standing to the left of his boss, he saw nothing but confidence on his face. Did they know something he didn’t?

“Is she ready?” the boss asked, looking at the man to his left.

“Yes, sir,” he replied, holding out a phone to him.

The boss took the phone and held it in front of him like it was the most precious thing he owned. When he looked up at him, the man swallowed heavily.

“Let’s hope for your sake that he is correct.”

>>>————>

“Brian, I told you I’m fine,” Felicity was saying as she opened her apartment door. “The doctor cleared me.”

“You were unconscious for hours,” Brian reminded her as he closed the apartment door. “They put some… unknown drug into your system. You have no idea how that’s going to affect you.”

Felicity smiled as she turned to face him, placing a hand on his chest. “I told you… I’m fine. I’m not feeling any of the wibbly wobbly I felt before. It’s gone.”

When she turned and walked over to put her purse down, he was quick to follow. “Do you need anything?” he asked. “When was the last time you ate anything? Are you hungry?”

Felicity laughed out loud as she turned to him and put her hands up. “Would you stop already? Don’t make me ask you to leave.”

“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely. “I was just so worried about you when you were gone.”

“I know,” she replied, giving him an understanding smile. “But I hear you helped find me, so that’s a plus!”

Brian frowned as he watched her walk over to sit on the couch. “How did you know that?” he asked as he walked over to join her. “I didn’t tell anyone.”

Felicity tensed as she glanced up at him. “You brought me to the hospital,” she explained. “I just assumed you found me.”

Dropping down on the couch next to her, Brian looked at her with a serious expression. “No, you said I helped find you,” he reminded her. “There was only one other person who knew that I helped. Has the Green Arrow been in contact with you?”

Felicity gave him a nervous laugh as she pulled a blanket up over her legs. “The Green Arrow? Why would he contact me?”

Brian let out a sigh as he watched her fidget. “He was concerned about you,” he revealed, causing her fidgeting to stop. “I could tell by how he was around you that he cares about you.”

“He cares about everyone,” Felicity corrected. “He protects everyone in Star City.”

“No, this was different,” he told her as he leaned against the back of the couch. “He seemed genuinely concerned about you in particular. Didn’t he save you a couple of times?”

Felicity kept her eyes down on her hands as she picked at the fuzz on the blanket. “A couple of times,” she agreed.

“Don’t you find that a bit… odd?”

To that, Felicity looked up at him in confusion. “Why is that odd?”

“Well, he always seems to be there to help you,” he explained. “Why is he so fascinated with you?”

“I wouldn’t call it a fascination,” she told him, looking back down again. “He just happens to be there when I need him.”

Brian just nodded as he looked at her hands. “Sounds kind of stalkerish if you ask me.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Then how is it?”

Felicity sighed as she leaned her head back on the couch. “Brian…” Felicity stopped when she heard her phone ringing. Throwing the blanket off of her, she got up and quickly moved over to her purse. She was grateful for the interruption as she wasn’t sure she was ready to tell Brian about her relationship with the city’s vigilante. Pulling out her phone, she looked at the caller ID and frowned. She had hoped that it was someone she had recognized to give her an excuse not to continue the conversation with Brian. Taking a quick glance over to him, she connected the call, ready to use anything to delay their talk.

“Hello.”

When he heard her answer, Brian turned to see the smile on her face fading. He looked at her in concern as she turned and spoke softly into the phone as she walked into the kitchen. All he could hear was “Uh huh” and “I understand”.

When he saw her disconnect the call, he asked, “Is everything ok?”

“Yes,” she replied. Brian had a hard time seeing her from where he was sitting, so he got up and looked over to her as he watched her send out what looked like a text message.

“Do you want me to make you something to eat?” he offered as he slowly made his way to the kitchen. “I could…”

As he walked over to where she was standing, he stopped and froze in place. Felicity had opened one of the drawers in the kitchen and retrieved a small handgun which she was holding in her hand as she looked down at it.

“What are you doing?”

Looking up from the weapon, Felicity gave him a serious look. “I said I didn’t want anything to eat,” she repeated as she slowly advanced on him. She still held the weapon at her side, but Brian made sure not to take his eyes off of it.

“Um… ok,” he stuttered as he slowly backed away. Looking down at the gun again, he asked, “Why do you have a gun?”

Felicity glanced down at the weapon before looking back up at Brian. “For protection. Dig thought it would be a good idea since I’m living here alone.”

“Dig?” Brian asked as he bumped into the back of the couch.

“John Diggle,” she clarified. “He’s off… somewhere… doing… army things.” As she spoke, she casually waved the weapon around, making Brian even more nervous.

“Ok… So… why do you have it out now?” he asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

“To protect myself,” she explained as she rolled her eyes. “Someone’s coming over. It’s for him. They said I had to use it on him.”

Looking at her in confusion, Brian asked, “Who is ‘they’?”

“I’m the only one who can do it,” she explained, ignoring Brian’s question. “I have to do it.”

Felicity had managed to walk right up to Brian who was still pushed up against the back of the couch. His eyes kept going between the weapon in her hand and her face. Her expression was one he had never seen before.

Slowly reaching out to her, Brian gripped her upper arm as he spoke. “Maybe you should just… give me the gun,” he said as his hand started sliding down towards the gun in her hand.

“Why would I do that?” she asked, sounding more innocent than she should. When his hand reached hers, he felt her arm tense up. He was just about to go for the gun when she suddenly pulled her arm from his grip, yelling, “No!” With one quick movement, she brought the handle of the gun up, hitting Brian over the head with it and knocking him to the ground. As she stood over him, she could see blood starting to come from the cut she had made on his forehead. His eyes were closed and he was not moving. Raising the weapon to point it at him, she cocked her head to the side as it trying to decide what to do, but then let her arm fall back down to her side.

“It’s not for you,” she said quietly before turning and heading back over to the couch. Sitting back down, she set the gun on the couch next to her as she sat there. Just a few more minutes. Then it would be over.

>>>————>

With a flourish, Oliver signed the last paper, letting out a sigh as he picked them up and tapped them on his desk to straighten them. Looking at his watch, he smiled when he realized it was still early. Maybe he’d have time to see if Felicity wanted to get some dinner.

Getting up from his desk, he walked out and handed the papers to Marie, who gave him a surprised smile. “Done already?” she teased.

“What can I say?” he said back. “I was on a roll.”

He wouldn’t have minded carrying on the conversation with his assistant, but the sound of his phone going off got his attention. As he pulled the device out, his smile faded when he saw a text message from Felicity. Without another word, he started running from his office, leaving a stunned Marie in his wake.

As he raced down the road on his motorcycle, he mentally kicked himself for not being there. She was suppose to be safe. Brian said he would take care of her. There should be no reason for her to send him a text message that said, “Someone’s here.”

Oliver made it to the loft in record time. Not wanting to waste any more time than necessary, Oliver went to the nearest staircase and made his way up, skipping steps as he went. There was no way he was going to let them get her again. He would make sure of it.

Once he exited onto her floor, he slowed down, making sure his heart rate and breathing were calmer. If someone was in her apartment, he had to be ready. Walking up to her door, he debated whether or not to knock. If someone was in her apartment, knocking would alert them to his presence. No, it would be better to surprise them. Taking a deep breath, Oliver grabbed the door handle and threw it open, ready for almost anything.

As soon as he walked in the apartment, he knew something was off. He could see Brian laying on the ground with blood coming from his head. He was just about to go and check on him when he saw Felicity calmly get up from the couch and give him a smile. She shouldn’t be smiling if her boyfriend was unconscious on her floor.

“Felicity?”

As she made her way around the couch, he could see that she was holding something behind her back. Looking at her carefully, he could tell that the expression she wore was not one that he would usually associate with her. She seemed… distant.

“What’s going on?” he asked, making sure to keep his distance from her.

“I have something for you,” she revealed, pulling out the weapon and pointing it at him. “It’s from Nikolai.”

“Felicity, wait!” he said quickly, holding up his hands in defense. He could tell by the look on her face what had happened. He has seen this technique used in his time with the Bratva. It was conditioning that was meant to use someone close to a target as an assassin and they had used it on Felicity.

“Felicity, listen to me,” he began as he slowly started to advance on her. “You don’t have to do this. You’re stronger than this. I know you are.”

“I… I… have to… deliver…”

Oliver could see the struggle on her face as the hand holding the weapon started to waiver. He could see she was fighting it. He just had to help her.

Slowly putting his hands down, Oliver continued to advance on her, keeping his eyes locked to hers. “Felicity, listen to me. You have to fight this. I know you. I know you better than anyone. You can do this. I believe in you. You are the strongest most amazing person I have ever met. I love you with everything I am and I know that you can beat this. Just… come back to me… please.”

He could see the tears forming in her eyes as she watched him advance on her. She still held the weapon up, but it was shaking in her hands. Oliver was just inches from the weapon now. He knew he could quickly rip it out of her hands, but he didn’t want to startle her. Slowly reaching up and never taking his eyes from her, he wrapped his hand around the weapon as a tear slid down her face. As soon as his hand closed around the metal, he pulled it from her hands and stepped forward as she fell into his arms. Her body seemed to have lost all ability to stand as her legs collapsed under her own weight. Oliver controlled her as best he could as he went down onto his knees, holding gently in his arms. When he looked down at her face, he saw her eyes were closed and her face was relaxed.

Dropping the weapon on the ground, Oliver adjusted his grip on her as he cradled her in his arms. “I’ve got you,” he whispered as he gently kissed her head.

A soft groan from the other side of the couch made Oliver tense as his grip on Felicity tightened. When he saw Brian appear, holding his head, his grip released slightly.

“What happened?” he asked, looking at the pair on the ground. When he saw Felicity was unconscious, he quickly dropped to his knees.

“She’s fine,” Oliver explained as Brian brushed the hair from her face. “Would you help me get her to the couch?”

Brian just nodded as he got to his knees and helped take some of Felicity’s weight from Oliver. Once he had more maneuverability, Oliver stood up, pulling Felicity into his arms. Cradling her gently, he walked over to the couch and slowly set her down.

“Why is she unconscious?” Brian asked as he sat on the coffee table and touched his head. He winced when he felt the pain and saw the blood on his hand.

“Her body shut down when she didn’t perform the task she was programmed to do,” Oliver explained as he knelt down next to the couch and adjusted the position of her arms.

“Programmed?” Brian asked, looking at Oliver in shock. “She was brainwashed?”

“Something like that.”

“What was she programmed to do?” Brian asked, getting a little nervous.

Oliver didn’t look away from her as he let out a soft sigh. “Kill me.”

Brian looked between Oliver and Felicity before shaking his head and getting up from the table. “Good thing it didn’t work.” Brian stumbled slightly and that caught Oliver’s attention.

“Are you ok?” he asked, looking at him with concern.

Brian smiled as he pointed to his head. “She hit me. With the gun.”

Oliver winced for him as he indicated to the stairs. “There should be some pain killers in the bathroom. First door on the right.”

Brian just nodded as he headed to the stairs. As he watched Brian head up, he shook his head and laughed. If Brian was Felicity’s boyfriend, he most likely knew where the bathroom was. Sometimes he just… forgot.

The sound of Felicity groaning brought his attention back to her as he looked down at her with concern. When she opened her eyes, she looked at him in confusion.

“What happened?”

“What do you remember?” he asked as he helped her sit up. Felicity winced once she got vertical again. Her head was killing her.

“Brian had brought me home… we were talking… the phone rang…” Felicity just shook her head as she put her hands on her temples. “Why does my head hurt?”

“The phone call must have been the trigger,” he suggested, causing her to bring her hands down. “The Bratva programmed you while you were under the influence of their drugs.”

Felicity froze as she looked at him with concern in her eyes. “Programmed for what?”

“It doesn’t matter now.”

“Oliver…” Gripping onto his arms, she forced him to look at her. “What did I do?”

“Well, you hit Brian pretty hard,” he began, causing Felicity to wince in shame. “He’s upstairs cleaning up.”

“What else?”

“Felicity…”

“Oliver, if the Bratva programmed me then it must have involved something with you,” she assumed. “What did I…” Felicity stopped when she realized what must have happened. Her eyes opened wide as she looked around the loft, finally seeing the handgun still sitting on the floor where Oliver had dropped it.

“Oh my god…”

“Hey…” Oliver put his hands on her face and directed her eyes back to him. “It’s ok. Nothing happened.”

“I… I…”

“No,” he said forcefully, holding her face securely in his hands. “No, you didn’t.”

“But I tried…”

“You fought it,” he revealed. “I know the technique they used on you. I’ve only seen one instance of someone being able to resist that programming before you. You did it because you are the strongest most amazing person I’ve ever known. I knew you could resist.”

Tears started flowing down her face and Oliver was quick to wipe them away. “I could have killed you,” she said quietly, barely over a whisper.

Oliver couldn’t hold back any longer as he pulled her to his chest and just held onto her. “I knew you wouldn’t do it,” he reassured her. “I trust you with my life.”

“How can you when I can be triggered at any moment?” she asked, gripping onto him tightly.

Oliver sighed as he pulled her back so he could look into her eyes. “It won’t work anymore,” he reassured her. “You already broke the conditioning by refusing to kill me.” Giving her a warm smile, he reached up and wiped her tears away. “That’s why your head his hurting. You broke the conditioning. You did that all by yourself.”

“I could never hurt you,” Felicity told him, reaching up to touch his face.

Oliver reached up and covered her hand with his as he gave her a smile. “I know.”

Oliver and Felicity were so caught up in each other that neither of them noticed when Brian started coming down the stairs. He stood at the top of the stairs and just looked at them before purposely making a little more noise before continuing down. When Felicity heard him coming, she quickly backed away from Oliver, looking over at Brian with a grimace.

“Brian, I’m so sorry,” she told him as he walked over with a bandage on his head.

Brian just gave her a smile as he shrugged it off. “I’ve gotten worse from the kids.”

Oliver looked between them and quickly got to his feet, causing Felicity to look up at him confused. “I should… go,” he said quickly as he made his way around the couch.

All of them were feeling the awkward tension in the room as Oliver made his way to the door. Felicity tried to stand, but when she got dizzy, she sat back down. Oliver was about to go back to her, but then he saw Brian grabbing her arm and helping her to sit back down.

“Take care of her,” Oliver instructed, eliciting a nod from Brian. With one more smile to Felicity, he turned and walked out of the loft, closing the door behind him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is it! Thanks to everyone who took the time to read my brain dump. :) Thanks for all of the kudos and bookmarks! It makes me feel good to know that what comes out of my head is appreciated by someone other than me. Less than 2 weeks until the Arrow season premiere! It's going to be a long 10 days...

Oliver sat in his office, just thinking about the past few days. He had been so close to losing her again. How could he protect her and the city at the same time?

A soft knock on his door got his attention as he saw Thea sticking her head in. “Are you busy?”

“Just getting ready for the press conference,” he told her, indicating that she should enter. “I think the announcement of the dock initiatives might get more attention than most people expect.”

Thea nodded as she walked into the office, closing the door behind her. “Maybe some Russian attention?” she suggested.

“Most likely,” he agreed. “We’ll need to be ready for the repercussions.”

“I’ll make sure the SCPD is in the loop,” she reassured him as she took a seat across from his desk. Leaning back in her chair, she studied her brother for a moment before changing the subject. “So… I saw Felicity this morning. She told me what happened.”

“How did she sound?” Oliver asked as he leaned back in his chair.

“Tired,” she revealed. “I guess Brian has been taking care of her.”

Thea could see Oliver tense slightly at the sound of his name, but he still nodded and forced on a small smile. “Good.”

Thea let out a small laugh as she crossed her arms in front of her. “Good? Is that all you can say?” When Oliver gave her a confused look, she rolled her eyes. “You should be the one taking care of her, Ollie. You love her.”

Oliver shook his head as he held up his hand to stop where she was going. “Thea, don’t. She made her choice. She’s happy. That’s all I ever wanted for her.”

“Do you really think she’s happy?” Thea challenged, causing Oliver to look confused. “She’s trying to be happy, but I haven’t seen her truly happy since she was with you.”

“Well, she doesn’t want to be with me, does she?” Oliver asked, sounding a bit harsher than he wanted.

Thea let out a sigh as she leaned back in her chair. “She told me that you told her that only one other person was able to resist that Bratva conditioning. How were they able to do it?”

“Does that really matter?” Oliver asked, getting up from his chair and turning towards the window.

Thea got up from her chair and made her way over to him. “Humor me.”

Oliver stayed silent for a while as he looked out at Star City. “It was a woman who was sent to kill her husband. They were newlyweds and her husband had gotten on the wrong side of the Bratva. She had been kidnapped, programmed, and released, but when they triggered her, she… she wouldn’t do it.”

“She wouldn’t kill her husband,” Thea stated as she stood beside him.

“No.”

Reaching up to place her hand on his back, Thea leaned into his side. “She must have loved him very much.”

Oliver just looked out the window as he let out a sigh. “She did.”

>>>————>

Felicity sat at the table covered with computer equipment, but she wasn’t focused on any of it. Her mind was elsewhere and the look on her face showed it. She had hoped that coming to the center would help get her minds off of things, but sadly, it didn’t. She was just as torn there as she was at home.

The past few days had been trying to say the least. After the incident at her apartment, she had been terrified of seeing Oliver again. She knew that he told her that she had broken the conditioning, but what if she hadn’t? She could still hurt him and she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she did that. She knew she couldn’t avoid him forever. She had made a commitment to the team and she was going to uphold that. If she could handle coming to the center, then she could handle going to the bunker. She would just try to make sure Oliver wasn’t there when she went.

The sound of a chair squeaking got her attention as she turned and looked through the door down to where Brian was sitting at his desk. He had his head stuck in some paperwork, probably trying to make the budget balance. He had spent so much time with her over the past few days that things had gotten a little behind. There were other volunteers to help with the kids, but only he could do the center’s finances. A feeling of guilt swarmed over her as she watched him work. He was behind because of her. He had a bandage on his head because of her. His life was so much more complicated because of her.

Letting out a sigh, Felicity turned back to the parts in front of her and tried to focus on what she was doing, but all she could think about was how much she had messed up Brian’s life. He deserved better than that. He had been nothing but wonderful over the past few days and how did she repay him? By lying to him over and over again, first with what she was doing at night and then again when he had asked her about her relationship with the Green Arrow. She had to though, she kept telling herself. It was the only way to keep him safe. She had to laugh as she shook her head slightly. Isn’t that what Oliver always told her? That he was only lying to her to keep her safe? When did she turn into such a hypocrite? Probably the same day she found a man in green leather bleeding in the back seat of her car.

“You ok?”

Felicity about jumped out of her skin when Brian spoke. She had been so engrossed in her thoughts that she hadn’t heard him approach. Taking a deep breath and putting her hand on her chest, she turned to him and gave him a frown. “Don’t do that!”

“Sorry,” he said as a smile came over his face. “Guess you were really somewhere else.”

“Yeah.”

Brian could see the far off look on her face and he let out a small sigh. He had seen the same look after the incident at the apartment, especially after Oliver had left. He had wanted her to take more time to heal, but she had insisted she was fine. He had spent way too much time away from the center and those financials that he was originally going to Felicity’s place to go over with her still needed to be done. They had worked on them for a little while when they had arrived, but then she had gone to work with the computers. As he looked down at her, he just shook his head.

“Maybe it was too soon for you to come back,” he suggested. “I can take you home.”

“No, no,” she said as she turned to focus on him. “It’s not that. Well, it is that, but being at home wouldn’t really help because I’d still be thinking about all of this there and then there wouldn’t be any distractions and my mind would just go…” Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Felicity smiled as she looked up at his amused face. “I’m fine. Really.”

“Really?” he asked incredulously. “Because, no offense, but you don’t seem fine.” Walking over to her, he pulled up a chair and sat down, reaching out to take her hand. “The day I found you outside of the center, you had needed to talk and now you do again. Come on. Talk to me.”

Felicity looked at him and then down at their joined hands. How could she bring him into this life? If she was going to continue, she had to tell him. It was only fair to him.

“Is this about Oliver?”

Felicity’s eyes shot up at him as she looked at him in surprise. “What?”

Brian just gave her a knowing smile. “I saw what he was like after your rescue,” he explained. “I saw what he was like in your apartment that night. I don’t know what happened between you two, but I can tell that that man is still desperately in love with you.”

Felicity had to avert her eyes. She didn’t want him to see the truth in hers, but she had a feeling that she didn’t have a choice.

“And I know you still love him too.”

Felicity looked up at him again as she shook her head slightly. “Brian…”

“Felicity,” he interrupted as he gave her a warm smile, “you hit me over the head without hesitation, but you couldn’t hurt him. You fought off that programming because of your feelings for him. You may not want to admit it, but that doesn’t change the fact that you still love him.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said softly. “We can’t be together. There’s… too much has come between us.”

“Are you sure about that?” he asked, forcing her to keep her eyes on him. “Now, I never knew you when you were a couple, but from what I’ve seen over the past few days…” Brian just shook his head. “You two love each other.”

Felicity felt a tear slide down her face as she looked over at him. “It’s not that simple.”

“Well, it should be,” he told her, giving her a warm smile.

“You don’t know what happened between us,” she reminded him. “Sometimes love isn’t enough.”

“Love is always enough,” he countered, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. “Love is what gets us through the tough times. Love is what makes us stronger. You just have to let it.”

Felicity gave him a small smile as she reached up and wiped away a tear. Taking a deep breath, she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “Is this your way of breaking up with me?” she teased. “Telling me to get back with my ex doesn’t sound like a very boyfriend-y thing to do.”

Brian laughed as he stood up, pulling her up with him as he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. “No, but it is a very friend thing to do and I hope that we can still remain friends.”

There was no hesitation as Felicity nodded against his chest. “I’d like that very much.”

>>>————>

Nikolai threw the television remote across the room, barely missing hitting the device it controlled. He had just watched a news conference with the mayor as he explained his initiatives to clean up the docks. He had triggered the woman days ago. Why was he still alive? Pulling out his phone, he dialed the number again. Maybe she hadn’t gotten a chance to get close to him yet.

When he heard a knock on the door, a frown came over his face. He wasn’t expecting anyone. As he listened to the phone ringing in his ear, he called out for the knocker to enter. When the knocking started again, he groaned, getting up from his desk. As he crossed to the door, he was surprised to hear the phone go to the woman’s voicemail. She had been programmed to recognize the number. Why hadn’t she picked up?

Nikolai was not in a good mood and whomever was on the other side of the door still knocking was not going to be happy they stopped by at that particular time. As he swung open the door, he was about to lay into whomever it was, but when he saw the scene in front of him, he stopped.

Every guard he had outside of his office was currently on the ground either unconscious or groaning in pain. Standing in front of him with a deadly look on his face was none other than the mayor of Star City.

“What…”

Oliver didn’t let him complete his sentence as he grabbed the man by the lapels and forced him back into his office, slamming the door with his foot as he went. He didn’t stop pushing Nikolai back until the Russian hit his desk, but even then, Oliver pushed a little farther, causing him to lean back slightly.

“You came after my family,” he hissed. “That wasn’t a very smart thing to do.”

Nikolai looked up at him and tried to compose himself, but the man in front of him was terrifying. “I… I…”

“I gave you a chance,” Oliver told him as he pushed a little harder. “Now you’re going to have to suffer the consequences.”

Nikolai finally regained his voice as he tried to get his feet back under him. “If you kill me there will only be another. Just like I took over when the last captain was killed. There will always be another.”

“Not this time,” Oliver promised, roughly letting go of Nikolai’s jacket as he took a couple of steps back. “The time of the Bratva in Star City is over. You will leave my city and never come back.”

Nikolai just laughed as he straightened his jacket. “How do you propose to keep us out, huh? You may be mayor, but you don’t have that kind of power.”

“You’re right,” Oliver told him as a smile came over his face. “I don’t, but I know someone who does and you have thoroughly pissed her off.”

As if on queue, a beeping sound was heard coming from Nikolai’s phone. A small smile came over Oliver’s face as he looked at the device on his desk.

“You might want to check to see what that is.”

Nikolai looked at Oliver in confusion before turning to the phone on his desk. His confusion morphed into anger when he saw the notification on the screen. “What?? No… how can that be??”

Oliver turned and walked out of the office, almost laughing at the verbal assault Nikolai was laying on his device. As he closed the door, he walked to his car, confident that the Bratva would no longer be a problem in his city.

>>>————>

Felicity was feeling very proud of herself. Normally she would let Oliver deal with things like this, but in this case, this was personal. The Bratva had tried to get her to kill the man she loved. There was no way she was going to let that go.

It surprised her how really simple it was. She had assumed that being the big bad mob the the Bratva was, they would have technical geniuses at their disposal to prevent this very thing from happening. Well, if they did, they didn’t compare to her and for that, she was grateful. Had they been smarter, she would have never been able to do what she did.

In the end, it might only keep Nikolai from hurting them again, but for now, that was enough. Now that she knew how to get into the Bratva’s system, she could do it again at any time. Any time they tried to pull a stunt like this again, she would be ready to take them down again. Eventually they’ll just assume Star City isn’t worth the effort. At least she hoped they would.

When she heard the sound of the elevator doors opening, Felicity glanced over her shoulder to see Oliver walking in. Her hands gripped her chair tightly as she turned to him, but when she saw the smile on his face, she relaxed slightly.

“Did Nikolai get my message?” she asked, feeling more nervous as Oliver approached.

“Based on the look on his face when I left him, I would say yes,” Oliver revealed.

“So, no more… psycho phone calls?”

Oliver let out a sigh as he walked up to her. He could see she was still very tense. “Felicity, I told you that you can’t be triggered any more. Can you just trust me on that?”

Felicity looked into his eyes and saw the pleading they held. He knew this technique. He knew its limitations. If he said she was cured, then she had to believe him.

Pulling her hands off of the arms of her chair, she nodded as she relaxed.

“So, I have to ask,” Oliver started as he walked over and began to take off his suit coat. “What did you do?”

“You’re going to love this,” she told him as she turned back to her computer. “I managed… quite easily, I might add… to get into the Bratva’s main computer network. They really should have someone look at their security protocols. I swear, some of that code goes back to the 90’s. Do they not know anything about data encryption? It’s really quite sad.”

“Felicity…”

Felicity turned back to him, seeing him giving her the “get to the point” look. “Sorry. Anyway, I got into their system and made it look like Nikolai had been syphoning money from his boss for months. It was just a little, nothing that would be noticed. Well, until that last bit where he made the mistake of taking bit too much.”

“Wait a second,” Oliver said, holding his hand up and shaking his head. “You turned the Bratva against each other?”

“Well, I guess you could see it that way, sure. Is that… bad?”

“In an organization that prides itself in its loyalty?” Oliver asked incredulously. “That’s probably the worst thing you could have done to him.”

“Really?” she asked, looking at him confused. “Well, I guess that’s good then because personally I think what he did to me was pretty nasty. Do you think it will get him out of Star City for a while?”

Oliver just shook his head in amazement. “I would think so, yeah.” Oliver knew it would probably be worse than that. If Nikolai was lucky, he might make it out of this alive.

“Good,” she nodded with a small smile. “I think we need a little bit of a break from the Russian mob.”

“I would have to agree with you.”

“Of course, I’d love to have a break from the Chinese mob and the Italian mob, and any other organized crime out there, but somehow, I don’t think I’ll get my wish.”

Oliver smiled as he hung his coat over the back of the chair. When he turned back to Felicity, she had already turned back to work on her computers.

“You know, it’s probably going to be a quiet night,” he told her as he sat down at his workbench. There were some arrows that needed repair and it seemed like a good time to get to them. “You don’t need to stay.”

Felicity turned to him with a smile as she crossed her arms in front of her. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

“No, not at all,” he corrected as he picked up an arrow and avoided looking at her. “I just… know you don’t have many nights off. I just figured you’d want to spend them… somewhere else.”

Felicity let out a sigh as she uncrossed her arms. “You mean with Brian?” she asked, but she didn’t really need an answer. “Well, we sort of… broke up.”

That got Oliver’s attention as he turned to look at her. “Really?”

“Yeah,” she sighed, getting up from her chair and slowly walking towards him. “It really wasn’t going to work out anyway. I had to keep so many secrets from him. You can’t have a healthy relationship when you keep secrets from one another.”

“Felicity, you could have told him about working with the Green Arrow,” he explained. “You told Curtis and that worked out fine.”

“I told Curtis because I had to bring him down to our super secret lair to save his life,” she reminded him. “I didn’t really have much choice.”

“Still,” Oliver continued. “You could have told Brian. He’s… he’s a good guy.”

Felicity nodded as she looked down at the arrows on his workbench. “I could have, but… I don’t know. It just didn’t… feel right telling him. It’s probably better this way anyway. I’m kind of a mess right now.”

“Because of Nikolai?” he asked as he looked up at her in concern.

Felicity nodded as she continued to avoid his gaze. She needed someone to talk to, someone she could be completely open and honest with. “And I still think about Havenrock. I tried talking to Brian about it, but I couldn’t tell him the whole truth so it only helped so much. And working at the youth center helps a lot, but… I still have trouble sleeping.”

Oliver just nodded as he turned towards her. Reaching out he put his hand on her arm as she looked up at him. “I know the feeling.”

“Yeah, I guess you do,” Felicity admitted. Thea had been right. Oliver was exactly the person she needed to confide in.

“Felicity, I’ve told you before that if you ever need to talk to someone, you can talk to me.”

Felicity smiled as she reached up and pulled his hand off of her arm only to have her hand find his. “The same goes for you, you know.”

Oliver squeezed her hand gently as he gave her a smile. “I know.”

Felicity’s smile got brighter before she averted her eyes and looked down at their joined hands. Stretching out her fingers, she interlaced her fingers with his as she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. When she looked up again, she saw a look of surprise on his face.

“I thought you didn’t trust me,” she revealed. “With everything that happened between us, I thought it was because you couldn’t trust me. But then… when I…”

“Hey…” Oliver stopped her by getting up from his seat and placing his free hand on her shoulder. “It’s ok. You don’t have to say anything.”

“No, I need to,” she told him, taking a deep breath. “A lot of what happened is really fuzzy, but I do remember what you said to me.”

Oliver pulled his hand from her shoulder, allowing it to slide down her arm until both of their hands were joined. “I meant every word of it.”

“I know,” Felicity said with a warm smile. “Just to hear that you trust me… with your life… and to actually see it… That meant a lot to me, Oliver. You have no idea.”

“I trust you more than anyone I’ve ever known,” he explained.

“And I’m going to trust you too,” she told him as she looked up into his eyes. “It might not be easy, but I have to do it because if I don’t, I think I’m going to regret it for the rest of my life.” As she released one of his hands and brought it up to his face, she heard him take in a sharp breath. “I’m going to trust you with my heart.”

Soon her other hand joined the one already on his face as she leaned forward, pulling Oliver down so that their lips could meet. Oliver was tentative at first, but when she pulled him closer and wrapped her arms around his neck, he wrapped his arms around her back and held her to him as if he never wanted to let her go.

Much sooner than he would have liked, he pulled back from her, holding his hands on her waist as he leaned his forehead against hers. “Are you sure about this?” he asked softly as she let her hands slide down to his chest.

Felicity let out a little laugh as she smiled. “No,” she admitted. “I’m terrified. It hurt so much having you break my heart. I don’t know if I can go through that again.”

Pulling back a little farther, Oliver reached up and cupped her face in his hands, leaning down slightly so he could look right into her eyes. “I will not let you down again. I promise. I know what it’s like to not have you in my arms. I never want to go through that again.” 

“You have to let me in, Oliver,” she told him as she reached up to grasp his wrists. “You cannot keep me away just to keep me safe. You’re all in or else this won’t work. We have to be partners in every sense of the word. No more secrets. Got it?”

“Absolutely.” Pulling her in for one more quick kiss, Oliver wrapped his arms around her and held her close, burying his face in her shoulder. “I love you.”

Felicity let out a sigh as she leaned her cheek on his chest, listening to his rapidly beating heart. “I love you too.”

Pulling back from him, she looked up at Oliver with a smile as she slid her hands down to grasp his. “So, apparently I have the night off.” Oliver just smiled as she began to gently swing their arms. “Don’t suppose you’d want to do something with me, would you?”

Oliver looked down at her and raised his eyebrow with a teasing smile. “Felicity Smoak, are you asking me out on a date?”

“Maybe…”

Giving her a smile, he leaned down and gave her a quick peck on the lips before pulling back and heading for his jacket. When she saw what he was doing, she turned and headed for her desk, picking up her purse. With smiles on both of their faces, they met up in the middle as they wrapped their arms around each other and headed to the elevator. As they walked in, Oliver looked down at Felicity as she pressed the button to go up. Shaking his head he reached down and took her hand before leaning down to kiss her again. This time, he was not going to screw it up.


End file.
